Louisville Music , The People Who Made It and Music of the 50's and 60's

Bill Bailey, disc jockey known as 'Duke of Louisville,' dies at age 81

2012-01-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

On April 20, 1994, Bill Bailey entertained listeners for the last time before retiring. JANET WORNE | STAFF

Related Links
LinkSign a guestbook for Mr. Bailey

Bill Bailey, 81, a longtime radio disc jockey known as the "Duke of Louisville," died Saturday morning at Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville.

With a gravelly voice and an outspoken brand of humor, Mr. Bailey, born William Boahn, was an on-air personality for more than 30 years at radio stations in Louisville, most notably at WAKY 790 AM during the 1970s.

He later spent more than four years as an afternoon DJ on WVLK in Lexington before retiring in 1994.

WVLK host Jack Pattie said Saturday that in the 1960s and '70s, WAKY was a very popular rock station among teenagers in Louisville and Lexington.

"He was what everybody listened to," Pattie said. "I think he was one of the best broadcaster communicators ever. He was a huge influence in my career."

After retiring from WVLK, Mr. Bailey moved back to Louisville.

His daughter Faith Chapman said he had a stroke about 13 years ago, which required him to use a wheelchair, but "he never lost his personality."

As a resident of a nursing home in Pewee Valley, she said he did morning announcements over the public address system and had frequent visits from fans.

He enjoyed painting and said in a 1989 Herald-Leader article that he would "rather paint pictures than anything.

"But I do enjoy radio because it's so easy for me," he said. "I don't like to do anything that's difficult."

Mr. Bailey is survived by a son and three daughters.

It's Christmas Time Again

2011-12-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

Make Sure you look at last years post for Nov and Dec 2010 on the blog - There is Darlene Love , The Delvetts , Monster's Holiday , plus Hotpantz - I want to give you one and Mariah Carey among others including Dr Strange and The Lovers

Here are some selections for this year

Count Floyd- 03 Reggae Christmas Eve In Transylvania

Hark The Harley Angels Sing -slidawg & the redneck ramblers

Christmas with The Zombies Jesse Smith

Christmas Is Creepy Fred FiggleHorn

Pimp My Sleigh MC Eric B

Reggie The Christmas Hamster - Parry Gripp

Update On Sep 26 2011 Post Love Bound

2011-10-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

We included a song by the Roomates (UK ) and thanks to Tim Hughes and some detective work plus a little luck , we can can now provide for you the original from 1961 by the Universals Love Bound (Festival 1601)
Distributed by King Records

The Universals (Amityville, New-York)Personnel :

Fred Johnson (Lead)

Plinius Ruiz (First Tenor)

Robert DeLoney (Falsetto)

Ollie Johnson (Second Tenor)

Kenny Johnson (Baritone)

Anthony Jones (Bass)

Comment Below is from YouTube

I'm happy to report that...on WWIN (in my Baltimore hometown)..."Love Bound" got up to #17 (pop...not R & B) in late November, 1961, but mysteriously disappeared from their charts the following week.

Listen to the string arrangement , can you dig it ???? Reminds one of " This Magic Moment "

2:38 of heaven .

Paul Cowley RIP and Thanks for the Great Memories

2011-10-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

Just received the text below from 2 correspondents and located this in the Santa Fe New Mexican

PAUL COWLEY Born Aug 15 , 1927

Died Sep 25, 2011

Ed Note :This birth date would have made him 20 years old when he started radio in Charleston WV in 1947 and 28 when he came to WKLO in Louisville in 1955 .

His passing is noted at the link below which is the source of the pictures .

http://www.1080wklo.com/paulcowley.htm

1 . "Just heard through the media grapevine that Louisville radio icon of the 1950s/'60s, Paul Cowley, passed away last week out West. Last address I had for him was Santa Fe NM in 2005. Paul was a longtime friend to our mutual buddy, singer Bob Bowman, who passed away in 2009.

For those old enough to remember, Paul was to the Louisville market what Alan Freed was to Cleveland during the heyday of Top 40 radio. And he was a genuinely nice guy; my wife-to-be and I often talked to him in 1961 over Ranchburgers when he did his WKLO nighttime show from the Dixie Hwy Ranch House"

2 . "He truly was a nice person. Worked with him one for whole week in 1959 @ 7:30 Pm till midnight atop the Ranchouse as a “guest teen disc jockey”. Was a high school promotion and I was a Jr at St X. My job was to say between commercials ,’Stay tuned for the Everely Brothers new hit: “Claudette”….. #52 years ago…God Rest His Soul and I know he is in R N Heaven….

Please add your own memories and comments

Editor Personal Note:

I remember going into the Paul Cowley record store ( my first stop not Vine or Variety ) trying to find " Pomp and Circumstance " by Adrian Kimberly

They did not have it but this 16 year old was helped by a gorgeous woman ( who seeing her picture must have been Mr Cowley's wife ) who kindly gave me a DJ copy . Over the years , I have played the song often . Years later I found that Adrian Kimberly was a name used by the Everly Brothers .

The article below is from a music journal at"

http://worldjournal-gs.blogspot.com/2007/01/everly-brothers-in-mid-1960s.html

The links in the article play the song and you can see a larger picture of the label

"In 1961 Don Everly produced three singles on his new Calliope label that were not Everly vocals. He used the artist name Adrian Kimberly, and used an orchestra and chorus. Listen to the first one:
Pomp and Circumstance - #34 Billboard
Black Mountain Stomp - flip side

In Memoriam Wardell Quezergue - New Orleans Producer , Arranger and Master of Funk

2011-09-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia with comments from your humble blogger: FYI Quezergue is pronounced (ka-Zair)

After playing with Dave Bartholomew’s band from the late 1940s and serving as an army musician in Korea, he emerged as a bandleader in his own right in the mid-1950s with his Royal Dukes of Rhythm. He also worked as an arranger with the cream of New Orleans musicians, including Professor Longhair and Fats Domino.

In 1964, he formed Nola Records, and Robert Parker’s “Barefootin’” from the label reached number 2 on the R&B chart. Other artists on the label included Eddie Bo, Willie Tee and Smokey Johnson. Later, he recorded King Floyd’s “Groove Me” and Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” at Malaco in Jackson , MS ( included in this post ). When major labels including Stax and Atlantic initially rejected them as uncommercial, Stax eventually released "Mr Big Stuff", and it became the biggest selling, most successful release on the Stax label (currently over 3 million copies), outselling Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and the other Stax acts. "Groove Me" was released on the Chimneyville label, a huge hit (King Floyd's biggest), and was covered by artists as diverse as Etta James and Tom Petty. Quezergue was also the keyboardist on both hits. Quezergue arranged and produced Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue", which "crossed over" and also became the label's (Malaco) biggest seller.

At the same time, Wardell was charting, at Berry Gordy's request, stage arrangement for Stevie Wonder and other Motown acts.

As a result of these successes, Quezergue’s skills as an arranger, and Malaco’s studios, became in demand in the 1970s, and were used by artists as diverse as Paul Simon, Willie Nelson and B. B. King. He also worked with G.C. Cameron, former lead singer of The Spinners ("It's A Shame") and The Temptations, the Pointer Sisters, and many more.

Quezergue also produced and arranged the Grammy Award-winning Dr. John album Goin' Back to New Orleans in 1992. Already an award winning classical composer and conductor, in 2000 he created an extended composition entitled "A Creole Mass", drawing on his experiences in the Korean War.

In 2005, Wardell was awarded "Best Produced CD of the Year"(by the NY Blues and Jazz society) for his first sessions with singer-songwriter Will Porter. Also a Blues Foundation nominee, the sessions featured Billy Preston, Leo Nocentelli, The Louisiana Philharmonic Strings, and Nola's best musicians. The CD was awarded 4 stars by AMG, and received what Quezergue called "the best reviews of my career".

In 2005, by now legally blind, he lost most of his belongings as a result of Hurricane Katrina.The following year, benefit concerts were held in his behalf, led by Dr. John, with support from other leading musicians, including REM’s Mike Mills.

In May 2009, Wardell Quezergue received an honorary doctorate from Loyola University New Orleans for his selfless dedication to enhancing the careers of others, while remaining in the background; for his dedication to teaching others, especially the young aspiring musicians of the city, leading many great New Orleans musicians to refer to him as "my teacher;" and for his contributions to the sounds of the city, particularly the driving horn sounds of the 60s and 70s, for which New Orleans music became known.

]In 2011 Quezergue finished work on what he called his "two most important works"; his classical religious work "The Passion" and the sophomore recording for Will Porter. On August 25, 2011, Quezergue approved final mixes of 15 tracks of the Will Porter project, featuring duets with Dr. John, Bettye Lavette, Barbara Lewis, jazz bassist Jimmy Haslip, Leo Nocentelli of the Meters (all multiple Grammy nominees/awardees,) with, once again, the best of New Orleans, including the 12 last recordings of the late drummer Bunchy Johnson, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Strings. His next planned project, a duet CD with Will Porter and Dr John will continue without him, as he died September 6, 2011, age 81.Please Click On The Attached Link For More Music In The Studio

On July 19, 2009, a tribute was mounted to Wardell Quezergue at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. By all standards, the show was a triumph, its concept begat from Dr. Ike and the Ponderosa Stomp crew. A nine-piece band was assembled and imported from New Orleans to back up singers like Dr. John, Robert Parker, Jean Knight, and The Dixie Cups, just to name a few. Veteran writer/arranger/bandleader/producer Quezergue showed everyone that he still has it, as he conducted the whole concert.

Dr John And Wardell Quezergue - A Tribute (Please notice bass player in the kitchen)
http://youtu.be/48ymr_iFvHw

Doo Wop memories and Keeping The Sound Alive

2011-09-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here is another example of the staying power of doo wop and how it is a world wide pleasure . We have The Monarchs with Mike Gibson on a fan site in Spain - You will find the Trendels and the Sultans there as well http://whitedoowopcollector.blogspot.com/2008/10/monarchsover-mountain.html and have featured a Spanish doo wop group The Doo Langs doing "Seven Day Weekend " http://louisvillemusicicians.blogspot.com/2011/06/doo-wop-from-spain.html

Now we present Cathy Jean and Roomates, The Roomates US and a fantastic group from the UK , The Roomates . These guys are great and there is much more on youtube plus they have cds. ( See the list at the end )

Cathy Jean and Roomates
Please Love Me Forever

Roomates US 1962 Check Out this site http://saddlebrooketimes.com/Roomates/Roomates.html

Band Of Gold

My Foolish Heart

Roomates UK
Lovebound

Magic Star

Band Of Gold

Roomates UK CD's - Click on links for track listing

ROOMATES - THE CLASSIC SOUND OF
Listen to this group of English guys that capture the magic of the great sounds we love and cherish. 24 tracks.
ROOMATES - BETWEEN THE LINES
'Of all the modern day performers who sing group harmony, the Roomates are among the few who have kept the faith and avoided the temptation to moderise the classic sound' - as noted in liner notes. 22 tracks.
ROOMATES - Off the Shelves
Off the shelves and onto a cd - tracks from before the hits we never had - includes 26 previously unreleased tracks. 29 tracks.
ROOMATES - CAN'T LIVE ON MEMORIES
Contains 12 tracks recorded in the studio sessions during '97 and '98, and a number of tracks that have only been previously available on various R&R compilations! 18 tracks.
ROOMATES - Lost On Belmont Avenue
Although from the UK, the Roomates are lost on Belmont Avenue. Listen as they showcase thier amazing vocal talents in the styles of many classic white groups on the late 50's and early 60's. 30 tracks

ROOMATES - Let's Call It A Day
Let's call it a day & relax listening to the Roomates - 24 tracks .... 75% previously unreleased. 24 tracks.
ROOMATES - NEWPORTS Meet the ROOMATES - Doowop Lives
You don't have to pick your favorite - the Newports and the Roomates on one great CD! 26 tracks.
SWEET JEENA & the ROOMATES
What a great combo - the Roomates from the UK and Sweet Jeena from Finland! With sound clips. 18 tracks.

Celebrating 75th Birthday of Hardy Martin in Louisville with some well known musicians

2011-09-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Received this from a correspondent who was at the 75th Birthday party for Hardy Martin, one of the founders of the Carnations and a part of the Sambo music booking agency

Who is in the photo ?

Jim Stodghill (Paul Penneys brother), Bill Summit (Trendells), Joe Bergman (original Trendell), John St Clair (original tenor/lead with Sultans), Wayne Young( Soul , Inc ), Paul (Stodghill) Penney. Mike Gibson(original Monarch ),Dick Snider on Drums 9original Monarch.) Bill Haswell (original Monarch) guitar, Geroge Owen piano original Monarch out of frame.

When asked who was there another correspondent comented "Every Louisville musician that could walk was there! What a party!!! List is too long. Was the same at his 70th!"

From Louisville : Radio Vinyl Nostalgia on spreaker.com

2011-09-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

From
David Fields
Radio VinylNostalgia

Hello Everyone,

I have included the song list from the first 10 episodes of the Louisville and KY Area Artists Shows from Radio VinylNostalgia. After every 10 shows I produce I will email the song list for those 10 shows.

If you don't want to receive the song list let me know and I will remove your email address. If you know anybody who would like to receive this song list, have them send me an email.

To Hear These songs go to http://www.spreaker.com/page#!/show/vinylnostalgia

Louisville and KY area artists - #10

Shadows - Shake Sherry - 1964

Soul, Inc. - Don't You Go - 1965

Chateaus - Summer Has Come And Gone - 1966

Gary Edwards & The Embers - Hitch Hike - 1966

Indigos - The Ballad Of The Belle - 1966

Mersey Beats USA - Does She Or Doesn't She - 1966

******Commercial Break******

Mersey Beats USA - Stop, Look And Listen - 1966

Sultans - She Loves Me - 1965

Tren-Dells - Love - 1966

Profiles - You Can't Stop My Loving You - 1967

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #9

Chuck Harrod & The Ant Eaters - Sandy - 1958

Rhythm Addicts - That Night - 1960

Jimmy McConville & The Shamrocks - Scorpion - 1961

Rhythm Addicts - Drag - 1961

Cosmo & The Counts - Let's Do The Tastee Twist Song - 1962

******Commercial Break******

Billy Huhn & The Casuals - Twist & Freeze - 1962

Irwin Twins - I Can Take His Baby Away - 1962

Tren-Dells - Hully Gully Jones - 1962

Little Pete & The Youngsters - I'll Never Leave You Again - 1962

Cosmo & The Counts - Troubles Of My Own - 1964

Fannom Patrick - Your Lover Boy - 1964

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #8

Elysian Field - Kind Of Man - 1968

Monarchs - Shangri-La - 1968

Soul, Inc. - Love Me When I'm Down - 1968

Elysian Field - Strange Changes - 1969

Rugbys - Wendegahl The Warlock - 1969

Rugbys - You, I - 1969

Brothers Pride - Love Is All I Have To Give - 1970
*****Commercial Break******

Monkey Meeks & The Colonels - Take Me To Your Heart - 1973

Rugbys - Rockin' All Over Again - 1970

Chateaus - Moanin' - 1965

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #7

Soul, Inc. - Midnight Hour - 1966

Keyes - She's The One - 1966

Rugbys - Walkin' The Streets Tonight - 1966

Tren-Dells - That's My Desire - 1967

Keyes - Farmer's Daughter - 1967

Soul, Inc. - Stronger Than Dirt - 1967

Alphabetical Order - My Little Red Book - 1967

******Commercial Break******

Snoopy And The Others - Sweet Thang - 1967

Alphabetical Order - Under My Thumb - 1967

Alphabetical Order - All Over The World - 1968

Soul, Inc. - I Belong To Nobody - 1968

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #6

Keyes - Barbara - 1965

Magnificent Seven - Stubborn Kind Of Fellow - 1964

Carnations - Funny Time - 1963

Soul, Inc. - Poppin' Good (Part 2) - 1966

Indigos - He's Coming Home - 1965

Sultans - Poor Boy - 1965

Chateaus - I'm The One - 1965

******Commercial Break******

Soul, Inc. - Who Do You Love - 1965

Tren-Dells - It's So Right - 1966

Oxfords - (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me - 1966

Mersey Beats USA - You'll Come Back - 1966

Soul, Inc. - Midnight Hour - 1966

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #5

Tren-Dells - I'm So Young - 1961

Sultans - You Got Me Going - 1961

Hayden Sisters - Mr. Blues - 1961

Cosmo & The Counts - You Can't Get Kissed - 1962

Tren-Dells - I Miss You So - 1962

Cosmo & The Sultans - Just Words - 1962

Monarchs - Till I Hear It From You - 1963

******Commercial Break******

Monarchs - What Made You Change Your Mind - 1964

Aztecs - It's You That I Love - 1962

Epics - Baltimore - 1963

Sultans - Mary Mary - 1963

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #4

Tren-Dells - Moments Like This - 1962

Cosmo & The Sultans - Sweetheart Please Don't Go - 1962

Tren-Dells - Nite Owl - 1962

Monarchs - This Old Heart - 1963

Sultans - Toss In My Sleep - 1962

Epics (with Janie Moss) - We Belong Together - 1963

Shirley Caddell - The Big Bounce - 1963

******Commercial Break******

Billy Huhn & The Catalinas - Baltimore - 1961

Tren-Dells - Ain't That Funny - 1963

Boothog Pefferly & The Loafers - I'm Not Going To Work Today - 1963

Monarchs - Look Homeward Angel - 1964

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #3

Cassius Clay - Stand By Me - 1964

Louisville Falcons - Time You're Told - 1964

Louisville Falcons - Wanted $10,000 Reward - 1964

Soul, Inc. - Poppin' Good (Part 1) - 1966

Sultans - She's Got It - 1964

Monarchs - Climb Every Mountain - 1965

Carnations - Scorpion - 1961

******Commercial Break******

Monarchs - Over The Mountain - 1962

Tren-Dells - Don't You Hear Me Calling, Baby - 1961

Sultans - It'll Be Easy - 1961

Cosmo & The Carnation - I'm A Little Mixed Up - 1961

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #2

Dynamics - Departure - 1962

Cosmo & The Counts - Small Town Gossip - 1963

Cosmo & The Counts - Things I'd Like To Do - 1963

Paul Penny - True Fine Mama - 1962

Dynamics - Later On - 1962

Tren-Dells - Hey Little Sheila - 196?

Tren-Dells - Everyday - 1964

Mystics with Diane Kirchner - Cry Baby Cry - 1964

******Commercial Break******

Carnations - Punctuation - 1963

Tren-Dells - Hey Da Da Dow (A Little Thing Called Love) - 1964

Kelli & The Kittens - What Mama Don't Know - 1964

Cosmo & The Counts - Soft And Pretty - 1964

Ultra-Tones - Locomotion - 1962

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Louisville and KY area artists - #1

Carnations - Red Wing - 1959

Donny White - That's My Doll - 1958

Jerry Cox & The Cavaliers - Debbie Jean - 1959

Peter Pete & The Lovers - A Lonely Island - 1964

Carnations - A Wing And A Prayer - 1960

Jerry Cox & The Cavaliers - Lover Man - 1959

Rhythm Addicts - The Thrill - 1959

Rhythm Addicts - Hey, Whatcha Say Babe - 1960

******Commercial Break******

Scarlet Combo - The Huckleberry Hound Theme Song - 1961

Little Pete & The Youngsters - You Told Another Lie - 1962

Tren-Dells - Mr. Doughnut Man - 1963

Fannom Patrick - Eva - 1963

More on The Mariners

2011-08-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

This picture is from the Seneca High class of 1964 45th reunion in 2009. Thanks to the Mariners for great music and memories .

From Rick Rice :
I am playing my recently restored 1961 Regal, my first guitar, bought from Mr Emberger at that music store on 5th St.

x Eddie Kopp, Henry Bass , Rick Rice, Bob Walker

Shopping In Louisville in the 60's

2011-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

http://pastperfectvintage.com/louisvillestores.htm

This is a great site for memories of Louisville
But
Where is Adam's House of Style ?
Anyway , Here's the Coasters " Shopping For Clothes " A Lieber- Stoller slice of life there ever was

Recalling The Mariners on their 50th anniversary and the Louisville Folk Scene

2011-08-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

From Bob Walker , a member of the Mariners with updates by other members

The original folk-hippie scene in 60s Louisville was focused on 2 places (both on Bardstown Rd in the Highlands). Those places were the Shack and the ZAPOT (Topaz spelled backwards). The early folk groups were The Willow Street Singers and Don Francisco (now a Christian entertainer). The Shack was really the hottest spot for music while ZAPOT was a beatnik coffee house with some music. Later on in the Cumberlands were formed after we had graduated from college. They are still around today in Louisville. http://www.thecumberlands.net/

The biggest Bluegrass Group that came out of the ‘Ville was Bluegrass Alliance and the best Bluegrass venue was 118 Washington Street and the Red Dog Saloon both down near the river off of Main St. I heard some great acts there over the years.

1961

Rick Rice ,Henry Bass ,Bob Walker , Lyndle Barnes ,Eric Reed (Top)Eddie Kopp

1966 Brad Matthews Henry Bass Jack Matthews Bob Walker

2011 Brad Matthews Henry Bass Eddie Kopp Bob Walker

The Mariners

Back in 1961 a lifetime of fun began for five young men from Louisville, KY. Little did they know that 50 years later they would still be playing music together? That fun manifested itself in the form of several folk singing groups (Kinsmen, Piltdowners) and eventually the Mariners. The Seneca High School students that formed the original group consisted of Eric Reed, Henry Bass, Rick Rice, Eddie Kopp and Bob Walker. Through their high school days they were joined by other talented musicians like Lyndell Barnes ( Bass) Jack Wallin ,Don Waddell, George Wong (guitar), Bob and Glen Hines (Guitar, banjo) and even three female singers (for one memorable performance); Vennie Neal, Jackye Shoptaw and Missy Coxwell .

The early sixties was a time for rekindling a love of traditional folk music and an awakening of our conscience with protest songs from a new generation of writers like Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton. The Mariners played the music of that era with songs made popular by the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, the Christy Minstrels, Brothers Four, Highwaymen, Serendipity Singers and (even) Flatt and Scruggs. They played private parties, churches, school events and a myriad of picnics and festivals that kept them busy until the end of their high school days in ‘64-65.

After graduating from Seneca and the departure of Eric Reed and Eddie Kopp to colleges out of town, the group took on a new look with the addition of Brad Matthews and Jack Matthews from the University of Louisville. Tom Sparks joined them, from time to time, on bass. During this period the group had its first (and only) manager. Bill Grubb managed the Mariners for several years and booked the boys into many unusual jobs that brought out the member’s collective creativity to “pull it off”.

In the mid-sixties the group played many university concerts, local TV and Radio shows, and a steady stream of private parties. They were chosen to represent the University of Louisville in Hollywood on the syndicated “Your All-American College Show” and took part in the televised productions of the Miss Kentucky Pageants for several years. The Mariners disbanded in ’69 after college graduation and played (what they thought was) their last job together.

After college the guys headed down their individual paths through life:

Eddie Kopp went to Davidson University where he received his Doctorate of Theology. Eddie now resides in Louisville. He and his wife, Kathy, have 3 children.

Henry Bass attended Western Kentucky University and now lives in Louisville. He retired in 2006 and he and his wife Moddie have one daughter (Shannon).

Brad Matthews stayed in Louisville where he earned his Doctorate in Education. He worked in the public school system until retirement and now consults with school systems across the US. Brad and his wife, Pauletta, have one daughter (Sarah).

Rick Rice graduated from U. of L.’s Dental School and moved to Burke, VA where he set up practice in 1973. He and his wife, Carolyn, have one daughter and three grandchildren.

Bob Walker left Louisville in ’69 after graduating from U. of L.’s Speed Scientific School. He has lived in 11 cities during his corporate career and currently resides in Knoxville, TN with his wife, Honey Lou. Bob has three sons and 11 grandchildren.

Jack Matthews received a Masters in Sociology from U. of L. and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Tennessee. Jack passed away in 2003 and is survived by his wife Katie and son Jack.

Eric (Rick) Reed graduated from Eastern Kentucky University. He worked in Pharmaceutical Sales prior to joining his families’ business (V. G. Reed) in Louisville. Eric passed away, suddenly, in 2007 and leaves his wife, Sandy, two children and five grandchildren.

Through the years, the Mariners have performed at their high school reunions, fund raisers, cruise ships and other special celebrations. They meet in different locations to renew old friendships, pick & grin and have as much fun as ever. Though the ranks have diminished and the hair a little greyer, the spirit remains. They’re still playing for the fun of it!

So:

In celebration of Eric Reed, Jack Matthews and 50 years of friendship

Mariners Live

" Rock Island Line" live at the Louisville Yacht Club 2006

Here is the group that beat the Mariners at Your All American College show

Pittsburgh - A Feature from 1989 about Buddy Holly and more on the famous DJ Porky Chedwick

2011-07-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Porkytown 1989 Buddy Holly would have been 75 on Sep 7.

For More on Porky , Please go to this article from
http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/porky.htm

Marvin Maxwell and The Sambo tapes

2011-07-25T06:27:00.000-07:00

I posted this last year and wanted to bring it to your all's attention again . The music does not last forever unless you are engaged

http://groovymusicinc.com/CJ_Article.htm

The tale of the tapes
Decades of music wait to be unraveled, heard

MORE PHOTOS

• Gallery: Artists and archives

ON THE WEB

Learn more about the 9912 Taylorsville Road project athttp://www.groovymusicinc.com/. If you are a musician who recorded at Sambo or Allen-Martin, click on the "Musicians" link at the top of the page to post your information.

Read about Chris Burgen's efforts to help Cincinnati soul veterans athttp://www.cincinnatisoul.blogspot.com/.

Check out Lee Joseph's Dionysus Records in Burbank, Calif., athttp://www.dionysusrecords.com/.

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On the third floor of a 112-year-old building in New Washington, Ind., sit several decades of Louisville music, waiting to be heard. The boxes of tape are cracked and splitting. Some of the tape is threatening to crumble.
The great Harvey Fuqua is stacked on top of the Bluegrass Alliance. There's also gospel music by former boxer Jimmy Ellis, Midnight Star, Bodeco, Abraham Rush, Nick Clooney and Gary Burbank.
On a shelf against the wall are Wayne Young, the Dynamic Invaders, Bob Braun, the Fanatics, Billy Paul, Kenny and the Accents, Dorothy Boy, the Aristocrats and Boot Hog Pefferley.
Several large boxes are filled with master tapes, the music dating from the late 1950s to the early 1990s: the Sultans, the Monarchs, Rugbys, Gary Edwards, Tren-dells, Denny Lile, Pure Funk, Henry Lee Summer, Kenny Smith, the Keyes.
Some you've heard of, while many were no-hit wonders, bands from Louisville and Cincinnati that scraped up enough money to record a handful of songs at Jeffersontown's defunct Sambo Recording Studios, which was later renamed Allen-Martin.
The vast majority of the music hasn't been heard in decades, but two men are trying to change that with a plan that could result in international distribution of CDs and a radio show dedicated to the unheard and unheralded Louisville music on the tapes.
It's a big job, but Marvin Maxwell and Walker ED Amick are determined to make the members of Boot Hog Pefferley stars.
Treasure IslandMaxwell and Amick have been musicians and raconteurs since they were teens. As partners in Groovy Music Inc., they've released three albums of vintage Louisville music, two by Soul Inc. and one by Elysian Field.
Maxwell was the drummer in both of those bands and recorded almost exclusively at Sambo/Allen-Martin. Since retiring from running Mom's Music, he and his wife, Beverly, have restored a historic building in New Washington and have opened a store, A Step Back. The place is also the "world headquarters" of Groovy Music Inc.
Maxwell's longtime relationship with Ray Allen and Grady Martin, who started Sambo, led to him and Amick buying the master tape motherlode earlier this year.
"We've got Louisville's history of rock 'n' roll," said Amick, 53, who's in public relations, lives in Scottsburg, Ind., and operates the Kids First nonprofit fund-raising organization.
The existence of the tapes wasn't a secret, and Allen had tired of fielding requests from specialty record labels and obsessive collectors.
"One of the reasons I got my hands on this stuff is that Ray just didn't want to deal with those people anymore," said Maxwell, 59, of Nabb, Ind. "They liked to drive him nuts.
"We're just tickled to death that he finally turned loose of them. I told him, 'Ray, you're gonna die, and I'm gonna die, and all of those tapes are gonna disappear.' "
Interest has increased significantly now that the music is being actively shopped. Maxwell and Amick want to start a series of releases under the umbrella title of 9912 Taylorsville Road, which was the studio's address. They've also recorded a sample radio show for local broadcast. Most CDs would be compilations, but there's enough material to release entire albums by Ellis, the Bluegrass Alliance, Midnight Star and many more.
"There's a lot of energy in this stuff," Maxwell said.
Some of the music will certainly generate interest beyond the collectors' market.
One tape features Cincinnati's The Charmaines, who apparently came to Louisville for some overdubs. They brought their own master, which happens to have several tracks cut by blues-rock guitarist Lonnie Mack, including the first four takes of "Memphis," a million-selling hit.
Clooney, George's father, tried some singing in addition to acting, writing and running for Congress. Fuqua was founder of the Moonglows and an integral part of the Motown empire who once managed and produced three Louisville bands simultaneously. Ellis was heavyweight champion of the world.
The late Braun was a longtime TV personality, singer and writer based in Cincinnati; he was host of "The Bob Braun Show" for 18 years. Maxwell and Amick are still trying to confirm it, but they think that several boxes of tape labeled "Billy Paul" are by the famous rhythm-and-blues singer responsible for "Me and Mrs. Jones."
The soul and rhythm-and-blues music in the 9912 collection is stirring the most interest nationally.
Kenny Smith is a soul singer from Cincinnati who did well regionally and became a cult figure in England, where the Northern Soul scene often embraced minor American performers.
Cincinnati's Chris Burgen, 27, is a music historian who has been helping Cincy's soul veterans re-release their music.
"The significance (of the tapes), at least to someone who's interested in quality soul music from the time period, cannot be overstated," Burgen wrote in an e-mail. "Kenny Smith is a bit of a minor legend in some parts of the world. …
"I know ED has uncovered a number of masters for songs recorded by Kenny. The ones I know of specifically are 'Go for Yourself' and 'My Day Is Coming,' which were originally released on the RCA label. An original copy of this single could fetch you anywhere from $30 to $100."
Lee Joseph owns Dionysus Records, based in Burbank, Calif. He specializes in reissuing music from the 1950s through the '80s and releasing new albums from bands influenced by early rock. He wants to partner with Maxwell and Amick to distribute the 9912 Taylorsville Road series internationally.
"Personally, I love the five-year period of rock music that started with surf and ended around the psychedelic era, when regional rock scenes were in full bloom and there were thousands of rock bands inspired by the trends and sounds of the day to entertain the locals, cut a single and have a stab at potential fame," Joseph, 47, wrote in an e-mail. "It's a curious mixture of archaeology, history, a rejection of modern culture and embracement of our very own lost Americana."
Red tapeMaster tape isn't the only kind that Maxwell and Amick are dealing with. The red tape is far more daunting.
As musicians who have been stiffed more often than not, they're insistent on discovering who played on which tracks, who's still alive and who needs to get paid. Part of the profits from future sales will benefit the Musicians Emergency Resource Fund (MERF).
The tapes themselves have precious little information, and a card file provided by Allen is incomplete. So Maxwell and Amick have set up a form on their Web site where musicians who recorded at Sambo and Allen-Martin can post all of the projects on which they worked.
"Our main concern is that these get put out in a form that gives the performers their due," Amick said. "We've got to get this stuff out there."
"But where do we start?" Maxwell said. "There's not been a very sophisticated way to let people know this stuff is here. It's been people calling somebody and somebody calling somebody else.
"We've got some work cut out for us." of the tapes

Live Lunch on WFPK with Soul Inc and their new CD

2011-07-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

Just listened to the new CD and if you are a fan of Rock and Roll , it's just right for you .There is not only a new CD with 10 super songs but an upcoming live appearance on WFPK live lunch . For all of you fans across the world , it will be avaiable as an internet stream . On August 5 2011 at 1200 hrs eastern daylight time (1600 GMT) Please go to http://www.wfpk.org/live-lunch/# and click on the link under listen--- Listen Live .

The Story Of Soul, Inc. by Rick Mattingly from the Website http://soulinc.net/

Drummer Marvin Maxwell was working on the assembly line at the Conn Organ factory in Madison, Indiana in March, 1965 when he was summoned to the foreman's office to take a phone call. It was guitarist Wayne Young, telling Maxwell that their band, Soul, Inc., had just been hired to join Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars tour. They were expected to start work that very night. "I hung up the phone, turned to the foreman and said, 'I quit'," Maxwell remembers. "I went home, threw some clothes in a sack and told my honey, 'See ya later. I'm goin' on the road with Dick Clark!'"

Maxwell drove to Louisville, Kentucky, where the band was based, to meet Young, bassist/vocalist Jimmie Orten, trumpeter Tom Jolly and saxophonist Eddie Humphries. After stopping by the Musicians Union to make sure everyone's dues were paid, they headed for Madisonville, Kentucky to join the Caravan of Stars. That night Soul, Inc. opened the show with a couple of R&B numbers and then served as the backup band for Lou Christi, Round Robin, the Tradewinds, Reparata & the Delrons and Louise Harrison (sister of Beatle George Harrison) in front of thousands of screaming rock 'n' roll fans. It was Soul, Inc.'s first gig.

The individual members, however, had a wealth of experience from playing in other Louisville bands. Young's credentials spanned the early history of Louisville rock 'n' roll, including work with such bands as the Carnations (where he worked with Humphries) and Cosmo & The Counts (of which Jolly was a member). Maxwell and Orten had played together in a group called the Emeralds, and Orten had also been in the Sultans, replacing Tommy "Cosmo" Cosdon when he left that group to start Cosmo & The Counts.

Most of the prominent Louisville rock 'n' roll bands were associated with an organization called Sambo. Formed by a popular Louisville disc jockey named Jack Sanders along with Carnations founders Ray Allen and Hardy Martin, the name Sambo stood for Sanders Allen Martin Booking Office.

Sambo eventually bought a white frame house in the Louisville suburb of Jeffersontown from which to operate its booking office. "The house had a large living room," Hardy Martin recalls. "So we bought a couple of tape recorders and some microphones, put up some insulation to deaden it, and started using it for practice recording. We liked doing that so much that we added on to the building and made it an actual recording studio." Ultimately, the booking office was renamed Triangle Talent and the recording studio became Allen-Martin Productions. Condominiums now occupy the site of the original white frame house, but Triangle Talent and Allen-Martin Productions continue to thrive.

Once Sambo had its own studio, a house band gradually formed, featuring a pool of the best musicians from several Louisville groups, including Wayne Young, Tom Jolly and Eddie Humphries. When Hardy Martin heard about an open audition for an upcoming Dick Clark tour, he called Young, who in turn called Maxwell, Orten, Jolly and Humphries. They worked up some songs, did the audition, and within a week they were invited to join the tour.

Orten came up with the name Soul, Inc., and a new chapter of Louisville's musical history began.

The first Dick Clark tour that Soul, Inc. played on lasted a month, with shows practically every night. Afterward, the group started gigging around Louisville and frequently traveling to Florida to play in a club at Coco Beach. "All the astronauts used to come in there and get drunk," Maxwell remembers. Soul, Inc. was also hired to back such artists as Billy Joe Royal and Ian Whitcomb when they played in Louisville.

An important factor that contributed to Soul, Inc. becoming one of Louisville's most influential bands of the 1960s was the group's professional polish, acquired from countless hours in Sambo's studio working on recordings of their own and serving as studio musicians for a wide variety of artists. The group also played a lot of live gigs and knew how to work a crowd, and so Soul, Inc.'s shows benefitted from their studio discipline while their recordings were fueled by the energy of their live shows.

Released as Soul, Inc.'s first single in 1965, "Don't You Go" perfectly captured the group's soulful R&B sound. The B-side was a novelty number called "The Alligator," inspired by a popular dance of the day in which a couple would lie on the floor and imitate the movement of an alligator opening and closing its jaws (at least, that's what the kids told the adults they were doing). Recorded late one night after Orten had gone home, Jolly was recruited to do the vocal, which was run through a Leslie speaker to give it an "underwater" sound. The track also features the only drum solo Maxwell has ever played.

The group also cut such tracks as "Who Do You Love," "I Found a Love," and "Hard Luck Harry," all of which demonstrated the band's expertise in the rhythm & blues style. Soul, Inc. recorded "Subterranean Homesick Blues" before it had become commonplace for rock bands to cover Bob Dylan tunes. Shortly after "Who Do You Love" was released on Sambo's Boss Records label, getting significant airplay in Louisville, Orten left Soul, Inc. "My number was about to come up," he says. "I could either wait to be drafted and get sent to Viet Nam, or I could enlist and get non-combat duty. So I enlisted." After getting out of the service, Orten returned home and hooked up with two other Louisville musicians, guitarist Steve Ferguson and keyboardist Terry Adams. The three of them moved to Florida and started NRBQ. Orten didn't stay with that group very long, either. But he has continued a career in music and still lives in Florida.

To replace Orten, Wayne Young hired Jim Settle, a former vocalist with the Tren-Dells. "When I played my first gig with Soul, Inc. at the Vanguard Lounge in Coco Beach, I had been playing bass for two weeks," Settle recalls. "So we used another singer as a safety valve while I got used to handling bass and lead vocals at the same time."

The first singer to help out was Tommy "Cosmo" Cosdon, whose band Cosmo & the Counts had once included Young and Jolly. Cosmo did a two-week club gig in Florida with the band, and when they returned to Louisville, they went into the studio and recorded "Hanging Out My Tears."

After Cosmo returned to his own band, singer Wayne McDonald performed live with the group for a few months.

Soul, Inc. did a second Dick Clark tour in November of 1965, rushing back from Florida to meet the tour in Louisville. "But we got there late and missed the show," Young recalls. "So we never got to play with the Dick Clark tour in our own hometown."

The second Caravan of Stars tour included the Byrds, We Five, Paul Revere & The Raiders, and Bo Diddley. "When we started that second Dick Clark tour, we were still slicked-back dudes," Maxwell says. Wayne Young picks up the story: "On the first tour, when we saw the Tradewinds with their long hair, that seemed pretty radical to us. But by the end of the second tour with the Byrds and Paul Revere, we all had hair."

Whereas Soul, Inc. had backed up all of the artists on the first Dick Clark tour, the second tour was composed primarily of self-contained bands. Soul, Inc. again opened the shows, and then served as backup group for The Results -- two female singers who worked in Dick Clark's Cincinnati office. In an interview published in 16 magazine a few months after the tour, Paul Revere & The Raiders vocalist Mark Lindsey declared that his two favorite bands were the Beatles and Soul, Inc.

"Bands like the Byrds and Paul Revere & The Raiders were great at doing their own stuff, but we could play everybody's style," Tom Jolly says. "We were a very versatile band. And when all the guitar players on the tour got together and jammed on the blues, everybody listened when Wayne played. After that, he could sit wherever he wanted to on that bus."

Soul, Inc. became so popular in Louisville that Southern Star meat company used the band for a promotion of one of its products. Packages of Southern Star hotdogs contained a coupon inside that could be redeemed for a Soul, Inc. single: "Poppin' Good." Further reflecting the band's popularity in an era where every neighborhood had at least one "garage band," Wayne Young wrote several columns that appeared in The Courier-Journal newspaper on how to organize a band.

Shortly after the second Dick Clark tour, Soul, Inc. lost its horn section. Humphries landed a gig with country star Brenda Lee and quickly got Jolly on the band as well. With musical trends changing, Young elected to replace the horn section with another guitarist and invited Frank Bugbee to join Soul, Inc. With Settle now comfortable handling both bass and lead vocals, the group settled into its best-remembered lineup: Wayne Young, Jim Settle, Frank Bugbee and Marvin Maxwell.

A few years younger than Young, Maxwell and Settle, Bugbee had made a name for himself with a band called the Chateaus. When he first joined Soul, Inc., Bugbee primarily played rhythm guitar behind Wayne Young's lead. But soon the two were sharing lead guitar duties equally, engaging in some (mostly) friendly competition that resulted in a powerhouse stage sound driven by a twin-guitar assault. In an age when such players as Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix were taking electric guitar playing to unprecedented heights, Louisville had its own guitar heroes in Young and Bugbee, and it didn't seem fair that they were both in the same band. "For me, seeing Soul, Inc. perform during this era, plus hearing their records on local radio, was as influential as discovering Lonnie Mack, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, the Yardbirds, and B.B. King," says Greg Martin, a Louisville native who went on to do some influential guitar playing of his own with the Kentucky HeadHunters.

The first single to feature the new lineup was "Midnight Hour." Although the song was done in the straight-ahead R&B style that characterized the band, the spirit of adventure that was permeating contemporary music could also be heard on the instrumental solo. Bugbee played the break on a banjo, using Maxwell's Zippo lighter as a slide to give the instrument a dobro-like quality. The B-side was "Leaves of Grass," which was named after a Walt Whitman poem and was the group's first recorded effort to move away from the strict R&B style and show the influence of the English groups.

Indeed, another important ingredient in Soul, Inc.'s success was that although the group members had started playing professionally long before the "British invasion" spearheaded by the Beatles in 1964, Soul, Inc. continually adapted to new styles in music. As a result, the group remained popular with young audiences and received a great deal of radio play throughout the second half of the decade, while many of the bands Soul, Inc. members had started out with found themselves relegated to the "oldies" circuit of class reunions and college fraternity parties.

Several new Louisville bands had started up in the wake of the Beatles, but most were composed of high school students whose performances reflected more hours spent practicing in the garage than performing on stage. By contrast, Soul, Inc. had been on two national tours with the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars and refined their performance through countless club gigs. Soul, Inc. could deliver the new music with the authority earned from having played the early rock 'n' roll and rhythm & blues from which the '60s music had evolved. But Soul, Inc.'s English influence had a lot more to do with the Rolling Stones than the Beatles. "The Beatles sounded too white to us," Young says. "We had always tried to sound black, which is where the Stones were coming from, too."

Maxwell adds that Soul, Inc. identified strongly with the Rolling Stones' "bad boy" image. "They were outcasts in the music business at that time," Maxwell says. "We considered ourselves outcasts too, and we were pretty cocky about it." Indeed, Soul, Inc.'s version of the Stones' "Let's Spend the Night Together," which was performed live as "Let's Go to Bed Together," got the group banned from several Louisville teen clubs.

Soul, Inc. was one of the first Louisville bands to dispense with wearing uniforms, taking on a look that was equal parts biker and hippie. And Soul, Inc. members were sporting mustaches and sideburns before a lot of other Louisville bands were even shaving. They looked like men, not boys, and that's how they played.

Soul, Inc. was also the first Louisville band to hire roadies. "We found out about roadies on the Dick Clark tours," Maxwell recalls. "So when we got home, we hired some guys to set up our gear. I remember other bands asking if we thought we were too damn good to set up our own stuff." "And we probably said, 'Yeah'," Bugbee admits, laughing. "Right," Maxwell agrees. "We were a bunch of smartasses." "Still are," Young says.

Soul, Inc.'s aggressive attitude was evident on their next single, "Stronger Than Dirt," a song inspired by a TV commercial for Ajax featuring a white knight galloping through residential neighborhoods and magically cleaning everything as he rode by. The song did quite well on the Louisville charts, reaching number one in the summer of 1967. Despite the humor of the lyrics, "Stronger Than Dirt" displayed the increasingly aggressive approach that Soul, Inc. projected on stage. It also demonstrated the band's continued fascination with pushing the limits of the studio and coming up with new sounds. The introductory riff was achieved by running a guitar track backwards through a tape machine.

Meanwhile, the "psychedelic" influence was becoming prominent in music, fueled by an unlikely combination of mind-altering drugs and Indian spiritualism. The sitar, which was the primary instrument of Indian classical music, turned up on increasing numbers of pop-music records, starting in England with the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" and Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black" and eventually extending to Memphis, where studio ace Reggie Young spiced recordings by the Box Tops and B. J. Thomas with an electric sitar. Soul, Inc. didn't have a sitar, but Frank Bugbee had a banjo, and with a touch of reverb and the combination of a somewhat Indian-sounding scale with a repeated "drone" note, he gave "60 Miles High" a decidedly Eastern color. The band's in-your-face quality was evident on "Love Me When I'm Down," released as their next single along with "I Belong to Nobody." More than anything else the group recorded, "Love Me When I'm Down" captures Soul, Inc.'s live sound, with Young and Bugbee's driving guitars (the solo is by Bugbee), Settle's aggressive vocal, and Maxwell's pounding drums. "We always said that we wanted the drums to sound like a bag of rocks," Maxwell recalls. Although Settle and Young had been writing most of the original songs the band recorded, Frank Bugbee was also trying his hand at composition. His tune "I Belong to Nobody" wasn't the hard-driving type of material that people associated with Soul, Inc., and so it was issued on Counterpart Records, a Cincinnati label, as Side 2 of "Love Me When I'm Down."

Soul, Inc. had developed good relationships with several Louisville DJs who often emceed their local shows. They had especially become friends with WKLO's Carl Truman Wigglesworth, and would always seek his advice regarding their records. After listening to both sides of their new record, he felt very strongly that "I Belong to Nobody" had strong potential and started playing it on his show. The record quickly went to number one on both WKLO and WAKY in early 1968, and was soon picked up by the Laurie label and re-released nationally, where it charted in several major cities.

But Soul, Inc.'s biggest hit was also the beginning of the end of the band's "middle period." Within months, a trio called Maxwell, Settle and Bugbee made its debut in Louisville, looking to pursue a more pop-oriented direction than the hard rock approach of Soul, Inc. With the release of their first recording on Imperial Records, the band changed its name to Elysian Field. But Bugbee soon left the group, and with the addition of new personnel, Maxwell and Settle were soon turning out the same style of aggressive, guitar-driven power rock with Elysian Field that had characterized their tenure in Soul, Inc.

Meanwhile, Wayne Young kept Soul, Inc. going with a variety of members. Chi Howerton was the group's drummer for the rest of its existence, and bassist Wes Scott was a mainstay during most of that period. Another member was guitarist Tim Krekel, who later played in Jimmy Buffett's band and also become a successful songwriter whose songs have been recorded by such artists as Crystal Gayle, Kathy Mattea and Delbert McLinton. Another guitarist was Denny Lyle, who ended up in Elysian Field after Young disbanded Soul, Inc. in 1969. The final lineup of Soul, Inc. included saxophonist Steve "Mabel" Ulrich and trumpet player Frank Brentzel, bringing the group full circle back to a horn band.

The first single featuring the "new" Soul, Inc. included "Get Right With Your Man" backed with "Been Down So Long," both featuring vocalist Sonny Flaherty. The final single released by Soul, Inc. included "Satisfied," on which Young and Lyle share vocal chores, backed by "Ready, Willing and Able," sung by Lyle.

The Soul, Inc. story hasn't ended. In the early '90s, Marvin Maxwell, Wayne Young, "Cosmo" Cosdon and other veteran Louisville musicians teamed up as the Shufflin' Grand Dads, and in 1997 they released a CD that has a lot of the old Soul, Inc. attitude.

And in the summer of 1999, Wayne Young, Marvin Maxwell, Frank Bugbee and Jimmie Orten reunited to perform "Subterranean Homesick Blues" at a benefit for a Louisville public radio station. Afterward, the group went into the studio and began working on a new Soul, Inc. album.

Soul Inc Audio Links Below - Right Click and select go to soulinc.net

"As one of the disc jockeys who played the music of Soul, Inc. the first time around in the '60s, I feel redeemed that this great group is getting well-deserved appreciation thirty years later," says Tim Tyler, a former disc jockey at Louisville radio station WAKY. "The '90s are proving the depth of their music and the depth of their white 'soul'."

My Morning Jacket on New Buddy Holly Album

2011-07-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

In case you all have not heard , MMJ is on the new album . MMJ does True Love Ways . Buddy Holly would have been 75 on September 7 ( Born 1936).

See article from Paste Magazine and link below .

1.Dearest – The Black Keys
2. Every Day – Fiona Apple & Jon Brion
3. It’s So Easy – Paul McCartney 4. Not Fade Away – Florence + The Machine
5. (You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care – Cee Lo Green
6. Crying, Waiting, Hoping – Karen Elson
7. Rave On – Julian Casablancas
8. I’m Gonna Love You Too – Jenny O.
9. Maybe Baby – Justin Townes Earle
10. Oh Boy – She & Him
11. Changing All Those Changes – Nick Lowe
12. Words Of Love – Patti Smith
13. True Love Ways – My Morning Jacket
14. That’ll Be The Day – Modest Mouse
15. Well…All Right – Kid Rock
16. Heartbeat -The Detroit Cobras
17. Peggy Sue – Lou Reed
18. Peggy Sue Got Married – John Doe

19. Raining In My Heart – Graham Nash

Here is a video of Florence + The Machine from New Orleans

"An upcoming tribute album to Buddy Holly,Rave On Buddy Holly, will feature the likes of My Morning Jacket, The Black Keys, Modest Mouse, Nick Lowe, Florence + The Machine, Cee Lo Green, Paul McCartney, She & Him, Justin Townes Earle, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Julian Casablancas and more.

19 songs are included in the collection, which will be released on Fantasy/Concord on June 28.

A release states that “Rave On‘s striking collection of musicians share Holly’s insurgent rebel spirit and outsider point of view. The artists cross generations and styles, collectively and defiantly embracing Holly’s distinctive rough and tumble inventiveness.”

Instead of being a straight cover album, artists were “free to explore radically new interpretations.” For example, Florence + The Machine brings an “industrial New Orleans” feel to “Not Fade Away” with Ivan Neville playing the keys, while Paul McCartney’s rendition of “It’s So Easy” features “raw, propulsive excursion filled with boisterous ad-libs.” "

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/04/buddy-holly-tribute-features-my-morning-jacket-the.html

Doo Wop from Spain

2011-06-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is a group called the Doo Langs from Barcelona for your enjoyment .
Seven Day Weekend ----The Doo Langs

The Original from Gary US Bonds Charted at # 27 1962

Movie Clip

Comments say that is the Jive Five in the background

Clip is from " Ring A Ding Rhythm 1962" AKA "It;s Trad Dad"Directed by Richard Lester ( Hard Day's Night , Superman http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504513/ )

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055026/

Upcoming Events June 23 Sound&Shape and June 25 WAKY Rock and Roll Reunion at the Zoo

2011-06-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some music events that have been brought to your humble blogger's attention .
We listen to your comments .

June 23 2011
Got a note from a band,Sound& Shape who will be playing at the Hideaway Saloon and you may want to check it out http://www.hideawaysaloon.com/

"My name is Ryan and I play in a nationally touring Rock N' Roll band from Nashville,TN called Sound&Shape. We recently released a new EP and we are doing some regional dates, one of which is Thursday June 23rd at the Hideaway Saloon there in Louisville.Below is a link for the band
soundandshape.bandcamp.com.
If you could please give it a listen and, if you like it, if you could maybe give us a write up to help promote the show it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you!

Take Care,

Ryan"

June 25 2011
See the pictures from last year on the blog at http://louisvillemusicicians.blogspot.com/2010/08/saturday-august-14-waky-radio-rock-n.html
WAKY is proud to announce the second annual WAKY Rock ‘N Roll Reunion at the Louisville Zoo.
Get ready for a trip back in time as the best of the 60s and 70s Louisville Rock ‘N Roll bands get together for one huge concert at the Louisville Zoo’s Oasis Field.
The WAKY Rock ‘N Roll Reunion brings together…

Butch Kaufman & Friendz
Doo Wop All Stars
Epics
Crushed Velvet
Sherry Edwards
Cosmo and the Counts
Soul Inc.

Guest may bring lawn chairs and blankets for seating. No tents or canopies allowed.
No alcoholic beverages or glass bottles permitted, but concessions will be available.
The concert is free with your Zoo admission.
http://www.louisvillezoo.org/events/WAKY.htm

Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame - Where are the Monarchs ?

2011-05-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

Louisville Representatives in the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame

Lionel Hampton
Mary Travers

With a mission statement that says:
"Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum honors Kentucky performers, songwriters, publishers, promoters, managers, broadcasters comedians and other music professionals who have made significant contributions to the music industry in Kentucky and around the world"

One might ask why a group of performers that has been honored by the legislature for a 50 year career ( one could call this significant )is not in said Kentucky Music Hall of Fame
See the presentation of the proclamation here with Billy Reed :
http://youtu.be/4PE2KX_kcnM

and for more of the Monarchs go to youtube channel monarchmg

Let us hear from you and also contact the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame

Derby Week Special- To Get You In The Starting Gate For Saturday

2011-05-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

My Old Kentucky Home- versions you may not have heard

Jim James and Wax Fang

Randy Newman 1974

Pugdaddy 98

Crane River Jazz Band

Final Installment :Swamp Pop and The 2011 Swamp Pop reunion in Ville Platte LA

2011-05-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks To Delton Thibodeaux for his comments that helped me put this together .

Charles Page & The Rockin Aces with Delton Thibodeaux on bass - Searching For Love

Warren Storm (Warren Schexnider)

Cleveland Crochet Sugar Bee Goldband Records and Eddie Schuler distributed by Bill Lowery's NRC out of Atlanta

Recorded at Goldband Studios for Floyd Soulieu and Huey Mieux .Released on Mercury
Jivin Jean and The Jokers

For more information , there is a fantasctic book by John Broven called "South to Louisiana ; The Music of the Cajun Bayous " . I urge you to get a copy .

And Last but not least , the 2011 Swamp Pop reunion in Ville Platte LA

Swamp Pop Music is alive and well as demonstrated by the large and enthusiastic crowd that attended the Swamp Pop Reunion VI Monday, March 7! The City of Ville Platte hosted its annual event for the benefit of the Louisiana Swamp Pop Museum, which opened in our community last fall. This musical extravaganza brought hundreds of visitors from throughout Louisiana, as well as Texas, Alabama, Wyoming, and even the Netherlands!

INCLUDED : Rod Bernard, V.J. Boulet, Austin Broussard, Roy Chaffin, Guitar Gable, Jivin' Gene, T.K. Hulin, Charles Mann, Tommy McLain, Jerry Raines, Jay Randall, G.G. Shinn, Warren Storm, Willie Tee, Kenny Tibbs, and Charles Veillon, backed by the fantastic group, "Cypress" with Earl Taylor and Mike Vice sitting in with the band.

Shreveport LA -Dale Hawkins and James Burton Susie Q

2011-04-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Hawkins

In 1957, Hawkins was playing at Shreveport, Louisiana clubs, and although his music was influenced by the new rock and roll style of Elvis Presley and the guitar sounds of Scotty Moore, Hawkins blended that with the uniquely heavy blues sound of black Louisiana artists for his recording of his swamp-rock classic, "Susie Q." Fellow Louisiana guitarist and future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Burton provided the signature riff and solo. The song was chosen as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Creedence Clearwater Revival's version of the song on their 1968 debut album helped launch their career and today it is probably the best known version.

Hawkins went on to a long and successful career, recording a number of songs for Chess Records. In 1998, Ace Records issued a compilation album, Dale Hawkins, Rock 'n' Roll Tornado, which contained a collection of his early works and previously unreleased material. Other recordings include the cult classic "LA, Memphis and Tyler, Texas," and a 1999 release, "Wildcat Tamer," of all-new recordings that garnered Hawkins a 4-star review in Rolling Stone. However, his career was not limited to recording or performing. He hosted a teen dance party, The Dale Hawkins Show, on WCAU-TVin Philadelphia.

He then became a record producer, and found success with The Uniques' "Not Too Long Ago," the Five Americans' "Western Union," Jon & Robin's "Do It Again – A Little Bit Slower." He served as executive vice president of Abnak Records; Vice President, Southwest Division, Bell Records (here he produced Bruce Channel, Ronnie Self, James Bell, the Festivals, the Dolls, and the Gentrys); and A&R director, RCA West Coast Rock Division, working with Michael Nesmith and Harry Nilsson. In the 1990s, he produced "Goin Back to Mississippi" by R. L. Burnside's slide guitarist, Kenny Brown.

Hawkins' pioneering contributions have been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

More On James Burton
http://www.james-burton.net/portal/the-man/biography

James Burton and Dale Hawkins live at the House Of Blues in New Orleans

Added Bonus :
Louisiana Hayride
Elvis from 1954 on radio

More on Robin Hood Studios in Tyler , Texas with a Louisville Connection

2011-04-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Mouse and The Traps

Thanks to Paul .
The Louisville connection: the song was a hit in two places: Tyler and Louisville.
Robin Hood went on to become the sound man for ZZ Top; Mouse and the Traps featured guitarist "Bugs" Henderson, who developed into a noted Texas Blues guitarist.
From Wikipedia

Ronnie (Mouse) Weiss and Dave Stanley (both born 1939) were members of a local band named Jerry Vee and the Catalinas (or simply the Catalinas) in 1964^[1]. Weiss had also performed on a regional hit single "Lucky Lips" by Steve Wright and The Catalinas that was later released nationally by Dot Records^[2].

In this time period, they met Bugs Henderson (or Buggs Henderson), lead guitarist for a local instrumental band, the Sensors. Weiss and Knox Henderson – no relation to Buddy (Bugs) Henderson - co-wrote "A Public Execution" and brought the song to Robin Hood Brians, who manages Robin Hood Studios that is still in operation in Tyler, Texas today. This song – which strongly resembles Bob Dylan's music in the mid-1960s – was released as the band's first single in 1966 under the name Mouse. Jerry Howell (who was also in Jerry Vee and the Catalinas^[3]) and Ken (Nardo) Murray joined the group shortly thereafter, and most of their remaining music was released under the name Mouse and the Traps. Besides Brians, other musicians that have played in various incarnations of the band over the years include Bobby Delk, Don (Levi) Garrett and Tim Gillespie.

After releasing several singles on the Fraternity Records label, Mouse and the Traps also recorded two singles for Bell Records that were produced by Dale Hawkins (a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and known as the writer and original recording artist for the early Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, "Suzie Q"). The band also performed on two of Hawkins' singles and contributed toward his 1966 album on the label, L.A., Memphis and Tyler, Texas^[4]. The band broke up in 1969, but all members remained in music except Jerry Howell (who became a Baptist minister).

By 1966, the members of Mouse and the Traps – along with Robin Hood Brians and Doug Rhone – were working with singer Jimmy Rabbitt, who was attempting to launch a band under the namePositively 13 O'Clock. Continuing their Dylan connection, the name is an obvious play on Dylan's hit in the same time period, "Positively 4th Street". A Los Angeles studio session at Hanna-Barbera Records in September 1966 resulted in their only recorded single that included a frantic version of Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction"^[5]. However, a planned album for the band never materialized^[6].

[edit]Musical highlights

The first single by Mouse, "A Public Execution" was much more Dylanesque than any of their later music and reached as high as #121 on Billboard charts^[7]. The single was released on REO Recordsin Canada as well and became a regional hit in Ottawa, where many local bands frequently covered the song^[8]. The song mimicked both the musical and lyrical features of Dylan's songwriting (particularly "Like a Rolling Stone") as well as Dylan's singing style to the point of homage or even parody. In the original liner notes of the Nuggets compilation album, Lenny Kaye states of this song: "There are some who say that Mouse does Dylan's Highway 61 period better than the Master himself". Another reviewer remarked: "['A Public Execution'] is to Dylan what the Knickerbockers' 'Lies' is to the Beatles: one of the few rip-offs so utterly accurate that it could easily fool listeners into mistaking it for the original article"^[9].

Their second, punkier single, "Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice", is regarded by many as being their best recording but did not repeat their earlier chart success. The next single was a novelty song that went in a completely different direction. Titled "Would You Believe", it was a take-off on the running gag of that name by Don Adams on the television sitcom Get Smart. A promo exists that shows the artist of this third single as only Mouse.^[10] However, a more subdued, later single "Sometimes You Just Can't Win" spent one week at #125 and was a regional hit in Tyler, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky.

Allmusic describes Mouse and the Traps as "a fine band who was probably too chameleon-like to find their niche in the national market".^[11]

By 1968 Bugs Henderson had formed another band call "The Dream" and was playing night club venues around Dallas.

[edit]Post breakup

The band reformed briefly in 1972 but had a genuine reunion in 1986 with the original members during the Texas Sesquicentennial celebration, with a performance at Flag Pole Hill in Dallas before an estimated 7000 people. A videotape of the 1986 reunion concert is reportedly available from Marc Hood Productions^[12].

Ronnie (Mouse) Weiss continues to tour and perform regularly, and often with his former bandmates; he is also a writer and is in demand as a session player.

Bugs Henderson has had a renowned career as an influential blues/rock guitarist with 8 albums to his credit. His 2004 release on No Guru Records, Stormy Love includes a version of "Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice"^[13].

Dave Stanley and Ken (Nardo) Murray, together with Larry Stanley founded the Lone Star Ramblers. They were featured performers at Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood from 1988 to 1996, and also appear annually at the Texas State Fair. They have released 10 albums and several video productions and also perform as the Stanley Murray Stanley Band and (at Christmastime) the Strolling Santas.

Jimmy Rabbitt has had a long and varied career as a rockabilly musician. He is also a celebrated Dallas and Los Angeles disc jockey who has had an internationally syndicated radio program, The Rabbitt Report since 1971^[14]. (Although the vocalist's name for Positively 13 O'Clock is sometimes spelled as "Jimmy Rabbit", he was evidently not a member of an obscure 1960's garage rock band,Jimmy Rabbit and the Karats). Rabbitt was signed to Capitol Records as Jimmy Rabbitt and Renegade. An album was produced by Waylon Jennings and the band consisted of former Sweathog (band) bass player, David L. Johnson.

[edit]Retrospective albums

The music by Mouse and the Traps and the other associated bands has been assembled by two European record labels on retrospective albums. The first was an LP called Public Execution that was released in 1982 (on Eva Records), which included nearly all of their singles, including the Positively 13 O'Clock record. The LP was re-released on CD by New Rose Blues Records in 1995 with 4 bonus tracks, including both sides of the 45 that was released under the name of Chris St. John. Out of the 25 recordings on their various singles, the only un-reissued tracks are on their final Bell Records single, "Knock on My Door" and "Where's the Little Girl". (The reason that there is an odd number of recordings is that "Cryin' Inside" was released as the "B" side of a 1968 single after its original release in 1967).

Also, in 1997, a CD was released on Ace Records/Big Beat Records with 7 previously unreleased songs that is still in print. Both retrospective albums are comprehensive overviews of the band's career, although the two albums have several tracks that are not in common. Their recordings are also widely available on numerous compilation albums of garage rock music.

[edit]Band members

[edit]Mouse ("A Public Execution")^[15].

Ronnie (Mouse) Weiss, 12-String Guitar and Vocals.
Dave Stanley, Bass Guitar.
Bugs Henderson, Guitar.
Don (Levi) Garrett, Drums.
Randy Fouts, Piano.
Robin Hood Brians, Farfisa Organ.

North in Louisiana

2011-04-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

His group, John Fred and the Playboys, was formed in 1956; their first hit single was 1958's "Shirley".

From One Hit Wonders

In 1956 one of the members of the group who was a big reader of Playboy magazine suggested they rename the group to “The Playboys”. “Sam Montalbano” the president and owner of “Montel” records who also managed the local Catholic Youth Center would hold dances and sock hops. He booked John and his group and a close friend “Johnny Ramistella” (better known as “Johnny Rivers”) to as many of them as they could make. Sam really liked one of the songs they regularly performed “Shirley” that was composed by both John and “Tommy Bryan”. On 23 September 1958 he took 17 year old John and his band to a recording studio owned by “Cosimo Matassa” in New Orleans. Some previous hits recorded there were “Don’t You Just Know It” by “Huey Piano Smith & The Clowns”, “Tutti Frutti” by “Little Richard”, “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” by “Jessie Hill” and “Jock A Mo” by “Sugar Boy Crawford”.

“Fats Domino” was at the studio this day and agreed to record a quick version of “Shirley”. John had already sang backing vocals on “My Girl Across Town” by Jazz singer and trombonist “Lester Robinson” on Sam’s “Montel” records. So Sam decided instead of having Fats record “Shirley” he asked John and his band to record it. Before they recorded the song Sam told him he was aware of another group called “The Playboys” and suggested they go by “John Fred & The Playboys”. They also had Fats’ band backing them up on the song. The flip side of the record was “My Love For You” a take off on the #9 pop hit and #1 R&B hit this year by “Chuck Willis” of “What Am I Living For”. “Shirley” was released in December and began getting a lot of airplay on the R&B stations until the disc jockeys found out the group was not black and stopped playing it.

The song debuted on the pop charts on 23 February 1959 and peaked at #82 and was on the charts for only 5 weeks. The song would become a top 10 hit in the UK in 1983 by “Michael Barratt” (better known as “Shakin' Stevens”). John next appeared in March on radio in New York City on “The Alan Freed Show” where he met “Clyde McPhatter”. Their second release in April was “Mirror Mirror (On The Wall)” that had “The Jordanaires” dubbed in with backing vocals but it failed to make the charts. In August they release “Good Lovin’”, written by “Robert Charles Guidry” (better known as “Bobby Charles”) who is said to be one of the founding fathers of swamp pop. This is not the same version that was a #2 R&B hit in 1953 for “The Clovers” a #81 pop hit for “The Olympics” in 1965 or a #1 pop hit for “The Young Rascals” in 1966.

In 1967, John Fred and band member Andrew Bernard co-wrote "Judy in Disguise", whose name is a parodic play on the title ofThe Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The song, issued by Louisiana-based Jewel Records on the Paula label( Stan Lewis other label ), became successful, knocking another Beatles song ("Hello, Goodbye") out of the #1 chart position on the Billboard Hot 100for two weeks in January 1968.^[3] It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[4] Although Fred actually had a well-rehearsed and talented group honed by years on the road, now known as John Fred & His Playboy Band, he was branded as a novelty act and never had another success.

Dale and Grace

In 1963, Dale Houston was working in a bar in Ferriday LA (home of Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousins Micky Gilley and Jimmie Swaggert , Sam "Montel " Montalbano approached Houston about teaming up with a female singer, Grace Broussard (born 1939) from Prarieville near Baton Rouge.Both had been singing in area bars for several years - Grace with her brother, Van Broussard .The two met and practiced on Montalbano's home piano for four hours. When Houston began to play an old song written and recorded in 1957 by Specialty Records performers Don and Dewey— "I'm Leaving It Up To You"

Montel, asleep in the next room, woke up and screamed: “Play it again. That’s a hit!” ^[3] The song was soon recorded and released locally on the Montel label

According to The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson, the song broke at Top 40 radio station KNUZ in Houston, where it was unanimously voted the "pick hit of the week" by the station's panel of seven deejays. Montel wanted to change the key in which the violins were recorded, but was persuaded by the KNUZ deejays to leave the recording as it was. It was nationally distributed as Montel #921 by Philadelphia's Jamie/Guyden Records after negotiations by producer Huey Meaux.^[7]^[6]

Montel's prophesy was vindicated when "I'm Leaving It Up To You" reached #1 on the U.S. chart, where it remained for two weeks.^[8] The song was #1 during the week that Kennedy was assassinated and also reached #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Houston appeared on Clark's American Bandstand program. In autumn 1963, Houston and Broussard toured with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. The Clark caravan, which also included Brian Hyland andBobby Vee, was standing on a street corner on Main Street in Dallas waving at John F. Kennedy on that fateful day. Moments later, the Kennedy limousine turned right onto, ironically, Houston Street, then turned left onto Elm Street, after which the president was killed and Texas Governor John B. Connally was seriously wounded. The group had gone back to their hotel rooms after waving to Kennedy and did not hear about the assassination until several hours later.^[7]

The follow-up release "Stop And Think It Over" went to #8 in 1964. However, the popularity of The Beatles, combined with personal problems between the two performers, Broussard's homesickness, and a serious illness which landed Houston in the hospital, caused the duo to separate in 1965. Grace returned to singing with her brother.

The Uniques with Joe Stampley at the helm were based out of Shreveport, and began performing in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. In 1965, The Uniques recorded, "Not Too Long Ago", the first national hit for Paula Records. One year later, they followed with "All These Things".. They were active from about 1965 to 1970, recording most of their material at Robin Hood Studios, located in Tyler, Texas.

Louisville Connections
The song "All These Things" was written by a newscaster in Louisville, Kentucky, named Tom Maxedon, written as a love song for his wife Carrie. In a time of need for supplemental income, Maxedon sold the rights to the song for $200 to an unknown producer making his rounds around the radio stations. The song hit the charts in 1966, and Maxedon's home station, WAKY in Louisville, began playing the song in their regular rotation in respect to Maxedon. "All These Things" became a nightly staple on WAKY, regularly one of their top-requested songs each night for over 10 years. The song stayed in the top 40 for just a few weeks nationwide, but was a local phenomenon in Louisville for over a decade.( So says Wikipedia )

Toussiant Mccall
and yes it was recorded in his living room in Monroe LA .
Released on Ronn Records by Stan Lewis
Mr Mccall in 1988 made a cameo appearance in the John Waters film, Hairspray, lip syncing to his hit song. ( clip is there to the left )
and you ask does Ruth Brown speak French , just like everybody else in this clip ) N'est-Ce Pas ?

Swamp Pop Music Links
http://theswamper.tripod.com/

For another time
Louisiana Hayride was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport,Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the greatest names in American music. Elvis Presleyperformed on the radio version of the program in 1954, and made his first television appearance on the TV version on March 3, 1955.

Moving South - Swamp Pop

2011-04-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to 9 years in Dallas , I was fortunate to get to know a lot about Louisiana ( known by some Texans as Lousyana , an opinion not shared by your humble correspondent ) .

From Wikipedia ( Find out more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_pop)

The swamp pop sound is typified by highly emotional, lovelorn lyrics, tripleting honky-tonk pianos, undulating bass lines, bellowing horn sections and a strong rhythm and blues backbeat. It is exemplified by slow ballads like Cookie and the Cupcakes’ “Mathilda” (recorded 1958), considered by many fans as the unofficial swamp pop “anthem.” But the genre has also produced many upbeat compositions, such as Bobby Charles’ “Later Alligator” (1955), popularly covered by Bill Haley & His Comets.^[2]

During the genre’s heyday (1958-1964), several swamp pop songs appeared on national U.S. record charts. These included Jimmy Clanton's “Just A Dream” (1958), Warren Storm’s “Prisoner’s Song” (1958), Phil Phillips’ “Sea Of Love” (1959), Rod Bernard’s “This Should Go On Forever” (1959), Joe Barry's “I’m A Fool To Care” (1960), and Dale and Grace's “I’m Leaving It Up To You” (1963).^[3]

In swamp pop’s south Louisiana-southeast Texas birthplace, fans regarded many songs that never became national hits as classics. These include Johnnie Allan’s “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights” (1958), Buck Rogers’ “Crazy Baby” (1959), Randy and the Rockets’ “Let’s Do The Cajun Twist” (1962), T. K. Hulin’s “I’m Not A Fool Anymore” (1963), and Clint West’s “Big Blue Diamonds” (1965), among numerous others.^[4]

Here are some of the sounds you may already know and some you may have missed

Bobby Charles ( Robert Charles Guidry )

Cookie and The Cupcakes ( AKA The Twilights)

Phil Phillips
John Phillip Baptiste, 14 March 1931, Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA. Phillips wrote his one hit, "Sea Of Love", to impress a would-be girlfriend in 1958. He was introduced to producer George Khoury, who recorded the song at the Goldband Recording Studio and released it on his own label, credited to Phil Phillips And The Twilights and you ask who were the Twilights .
Look no further than the Cookie and the Cupcakes augmented by Katie Webster on piano .

Katie Webster
The piano player on Sea of Love
A live performance - Terrific Musician

T K Hulin

Rod Bernard

From New Orleans
Earl King

Clarence "Frogman" Henry
A Bobby Charles Song

More later and a trip through Louisiana and up to Shreveport for Jewel records and even a look at the Louisiana Hayride .

Motown Sound Coming at you from North England as Northern Soul The Debonaires

2011-04-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

It takes many twists and turns to make it in the music business . This great Motown sound shows just we missed in 1964 with only what top 40 let us hear . Northern Soul is dance music and "Loving You Takes All of My Time " has it all .

From allmusic.com by Andrew Hamilton

The Debonaires were cousins, Joyce Vincent Wilson and Telma Hopkins, and supposedly there were other members who remain unknown. These unknowns are possibly some of the Adorables who recorded for Golden World records before the Debonaires. A feasible surmise since two Adorables -- Pat Lewis and Betty Winston -- helped co-write the Debonaires' second single, "Eenie Meenie Gypsa Leenie." Wilson and Hopkins later sung with Tony Orlando, a pop group that notched three number one hits.

They were high school students when Golden World released "Please Don't Say We're Through" b/w "A Little Too Long" in 1964 Unfortunately, it didn't get exposed outside the Detroit area. The writing, producing, and singing Hamilton Brothers -- Bob, Albert,Eugene, and Freddie Gorman (also a brother) -- handled both sides. Big things were expected, as the same production crew had recently scored a gold disk on the Reflections ("Just Like Romeo and Juliet"). "Eenie Meenie," the second single, came out in August of 1965, but by this time Golden World was cold as a deep freezer. Its subsidiary Ric Tic was doing much better with tunes by Edwin Starr, the Fantastic Four, J. J. Barnes, and the Detroit Emeralds. Golden World apparently released Debonaires' singles as afterthoughts because the next one didn't appear until nearly a year later on June 6, 1966. "How Is Your New Love Treating You," written by Linda Bunton and Joanne Jackson, who wrote under Joanne Britton, rates as one of their best, but it never got pushed.Probably because label owner, Ed Wingate, was negotiating to sell the whole ball of wax to Motown

. A final Golden World single "C.O.D. (Collect on Delivery)" released in October of 1966 stiffed as badly as the others. They surfaced later that year on Solid Hit records with "Headache in My Heart" b/w "Loving You Takes All My Time," produced by George Clinton.

Solid Hit's typist blew the spelling and the single is credited as by the Debonairs; she missed the E, but it didn't matter, it didn't sell either. They tried one last time with "I'm in Love Again" before closing the book on the Debonaires.

Motown artists by default when Wingate sold his masters and publishing to Berry Gordy, Hopkins and Wilson began singing on sessions that proved more lucrative than being recording artists. They remained unknown until Tony Orlando hit as a solo act with "Halfway to Paradise" and "Bless You," both recorded by Jimmy Ruffin on his Top Ten album, and cut "Candida." Orlando worked for April-Blackwood Music Publishing at the time. Not wanting his moonlighting known, Bell Records credited the song as Dawn, but there was no Dawn. Hopkins' and Wilson's voices didn't appear on record with Orlando until the sixth single. "Knock Three Times," the second Dawn single, rocketed straight to number one; two million sellers in a row are hard to deny or ignore.

April-Blackwood was Columbia Records' publishing wing; Bell Records was a competitor. To appease his bosses, Orlando insisted that some April-Blackwood titles appear on Dawn's album. The group became Tony Orlando & Dawn after the fourth single. The success prompted Orlando to quit his job and prepare to tour with Dawn, but there was still no Dawn. A producer friend acquainted Orlando withHopkins and Wilson; the trio jelled immediately. A remake of Del Shannon's "Runaway" marked Dawn's first appearance on record withOrlando.

After Dawn, Telma Hopkins carved a highly successful career as a television actress appearing and starring on too many shows to mention, something she still does. Joyce Vincent Wilson became a housewife. Tony Orlando and Dawn unite from time to time for brief appearances, but the Debonaires were forgotten almost before they started .Oh and George Clinton , here's a little more of him . Get Down

Remembering The Teen Clubs and Teen Dance Venues 12/31/10 New Years Eve

2011-03-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

My thoughts spin back to those days, when the earth was still cooling.
Like many of my contemporaries, I was prepping for another New Year’s Eve… the annual New Year’s Eve gig ( for a horn player ( ed note :saxophone ) , this was making sure, inter alia ( ed note : among other things ), that you had the right number of reeds that were shaved down to just the right level, that the band’s “uniform of the evening” was cleaned and pressed, and that one’s weejuns were highly polished ). This was always a big night for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that, on NYE, the money was usually no less than 2X to 3X our usual rate!

Thoughts of those days, for some reason, lead me to think about how important Catholic teen clubs were to us, especially early on, when, like so many others, we were just coming out of the blocks. Drive around Louisville, especially in many of the older neighborhoods, and it feels like about every 10 blocks or so, you spot another parish church. Almost every one of those parishes had its own teen club, with names like SaRaTeen ( St. Raphael’s ), ChaLaLou ( Church of Our Lady of Lourdes) and HoFa ( Holy Family ). OK, OK, so maybe the money wasn’t all that great ( or even all that mediocre, come to that ), but each club was a venue…an opportunity… for aspiring singers and their musicians to get in front of a live audience of their peers, to conquer their fears and to hone their skills.

So, imagine if Louisville had been, dare I say, “less Catholic”. Sure there’d have been the VFW, the Highland Post, FoP, Gypsy Village and a few others, but ( and here, admittedly, memories are a bit faded ), I recall those venues as more the “big time”, after a band had a following, and, in some cases, even a record or two.

OK, OK, not so much the Pope, then, or even the Archbishop for that matter, but all those parish priests and nuns who gave the “go ahead” to their teen committees to hire the young hopefuls to perform in their clubs…they ought to belatedly recognized and thanked. There probably are other towns in America that provided similar opportunities, but it strikes me that what we had in Louisville was particularly nurturing and rewarding.

Tim Hughes
An Original Member of the Monarchs

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee - Darlene Love - More Girl Group Sounds

2011-02-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

Here is the NPR story on Darlene Love RNRHOF

From the youtube poster Check it out for more

Written by Gene Pitney, and already passed on by The Shirelles, Phil Spector had wanted this for his girl group The Crystals who were on the east coast at the time. As the story goes, Spector had turned to Gold Star studios in LA because there, he could better develop his sound and couldn't wait for The Crystals to fly from New York; he had Darlene Love and The Blossoms record it instead. The record went to # 1 in 1962, but was released under The Crystals name. The Crystals were forced to celebrate a false victory and The Blossoms never fully got their dues which is why I made this video as a tribute to them. Aside from their work on the rock program "Shindig," The Blossoms were actually very established as a premiere backing group- many articles on them fail to include that they have backed several major acts live, such as Marvin Gaye (in The TAMI Show 0:47) and Elvis Presley (in his comeback special 1:33). They have backed numerous others in the studio. A lot of people complain about performances of this by the new Crystals group that Dee Dee Kennibrew (an original Crystal) started. But anyway, it's funny how people have such huge issues with that when it was only released under The Crystals' name while the real Crystals didn't even sing on it.

Leslie Gore from the TAMI Show - if you guessed the Blossoms doing the background - you are a winner

Girl Group Movie 5 Parts Each part 15 minutes
Part 1

Part 2 (opens with the Exciters - they opened for the Beatles in Indianpolis on Sep 3 1964 , your blogger was there !)

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Girl Groups of the 50's and 60's you may have missed

2011-02-04T06:21:00.000-08:00

The Gales

Note - listen for the key changes

The Antwinettes

Sax break worth rippin off . How many mics do you think they had ?
The Sharmeers

From Philadelphia on Red Top

These guys were on Red Top (Jalynne was one of their labels ) as Tony and the Twilighters and the title has girl in it .

They were also know as Anthony and the Sophomores

Back to Girls on Red Top
The Quintones ( yes there was one guy in the group )

Find this and more at Dennis Bell's Golden Oldies

Marci and Mates - Pomus and Shuman

2011-02-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

Keeping up the occasional post of little known but coulda been hits .

Comment from the yahoo group - spectropop -by Country Paul

"Shall I Tell Him You're Not Here" sounds as though it isn't sure if it wants to be a Johnny Burnette mid-tempo ballad or The Flamingos' "Nobody Loves Me Like You."

So, the burning question for years: who

is Marci, and what is a guy doing with a girl's name? "

Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman -- see below for just a little of what they wrote together .

See Below for the Drifters

http://www.history-of-rock.com/doc_pomus_and_mort_shulman.htm

http://www.shrout.co.uk/Shuman%20Pomus%20songs.html

1955
You Better Believe It (demo ) - Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman

1956
The Curtain Fell - The Cardinals (unissued)
(Wake Up) Miss Rip Van Winkle - The Tibbs Brothers
I'm Going Crazy - The Tibbs Brothers
(You've Got) The Magic Touch - The Platters

1957
I Need A Girl - Big Joe Turner
Love Roller Coaster - Big Joe Turner [1]
Misery's Child - Richard Hayes

1958
I Ain't Sharin' Sharon - Bobby Darin
Plain Jane - Bobby Darin
(Since You're Gone) I Can't Go On - Bobby Darin
Kiss And Make Up - The Crowns
My Island Of Dreams - Clyde McPhatter (written in 1956)
Say The Word - Micky & Sylvia [2]
Sunglasses - The Shades [2]
Too Hot To Handle - Jimmy Simmons [3]
You Be My Baby - Ray Charles [4]

1959
A Teenager In Love - Dion & The Belmonts
Angel Face - James Darren
Teenage Tears - James Darren
Carryin' The Load - Ray Charles
Comes The Day - Rusty Lane
Foxy Little Mama - Little Tony & His Brothers
Go Jimmy Go - Jimmy Clancy
(It's) Great To Be Young And In Love (later -"A Teenager In Love" )- Doc Pomus
Hound Dog Man - Fabian
Hushabye - The Mystics
I Dig Girls - Bobby Rydell
I'm A Man - Fabian
It's Been Nice (Goodnight) - Marty Wilde
I've Cried Before - Dion & The Belmonts
Pajama Party - Bobby Pedrick Jr.
People Gotta Talk - Ersel Hickey
Serious - Michael Cox
Stampede - Danny Valentino [5]
Sweet Talk - Bobby Comstock & The Counts
The Snake And The Bookworm - Pat Shannon
The Tiger And The Mouse - Connie Francis
Too Good - Little Tony & His Brothers
(If You Cry) True, True Love - The Drifters

Turn Me Loose - Fabian
Two Fools - Frankie Avalon
You Gotta Be A Music Man - Danny Valentino
You'll Never Tame Me - Bobby Rydell
You're Teasing Me - LaVern Baker

1960
A Mess Of Blues - Elvis Presley
Desdemona's Lament - Joya Sherill
Doin' The Best I Can - Elvis Presley
Don't Fly Away - Jan & Dean
Footsteps - The Skyliners
Happy Time - The Skyliners
Havin' Fun - Dion
I Count The Tears - The Drifters
If You Need Me - Dave Sampson & The Hunters
I'm On Fire - Tommy Bruce
It Tears Me All To Pieces - Ruth Brown [6]
Lonely Winds - The Drifters
Lovers Gotta Cry - The Flamingos
My Private Joy - Dion & The Belmonts
Nobody But Me - The Drifters
No One - Connie Francis / Brenda Lee (Doc Pomus demo 1959)
Once Upon A Time - Ricky Valence
Save The Last Dance For Me - The Drifters
Senor Big And Fine - LaVern Baker
Sorrow Tomorrow - Bobby Darin
Strollin' In The Springtime - Fabian
Teenage Heartache - Ray Peterson
This Magic Moment - The Drifters
Wait - Jimmy Clanton
We Like Boys (version of "I Dig Girls") - Vernons Girls
What Went Wrong - Jimmy Oliver
Your Other Love - The Flamingos

1961
A Texan And A Girl From Mexico - Anita Bryant
Could Somebody Take My Place Tonight - Dion & The Belmonts
Don't You Dare Let Me Down - Conway Twitty
Here Comes The Night - Dion & The Belmonts
I Just Wanna Make Love - Jimmy Clanton
It Was Never Meant To Be - Dion
It's Not True - Ricky Valance
Little Ship - The Delicates, Arlene Martell, Jess Conrad
Little Sister - Elvis Presley
(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley
Might Cold (To A Warm, Warm Heart) - Fabian
Misery - Del Shannon
Rag Doll - Jess Conrad
Room Full Of Tears - The Drifters
So Close To Heaven - Ral Donner
School Of Heartbreak - Ral Donner
Some Kind Of Wonderful - The Drifters
Somebody New Dancing With You - The Drifters
Souvenir Of Mexico - Ben E. King
Surrender - Elvis Presley
Sweets For My Sweet - The Drifters
Wide Wide World - Del Shannon
Would You Stand By Me - Billy Fury
You Never Talked To Me That Way - The Drifters

1962
Kiss Me Quick - Elvis Presley
Ginny In The Mirror - Del Shannon
Gonna Get Back Home Somehow - Elvis Presley
It Only Takes A Minute - Michael Holliday
Night Rider - Elvis Presley
Queen Of The Twisters - Bill Haley
Seven Day Weekend - Gary 'US' Bonds
Spanish Lace - Gene McDaniels
Suspicion - Elvis Presley
You Never Talked About Me (version of "You Never Talked To Me That Way") - Del Shannon

1963
All You Got To Do Is Touch Me - Bobby Vee
Can't Get Used To Losing You - Andy Williams
(It's A) Long Lonely Highway - Elvis Presley
I Need Somebody To Lean On - Elvis Presley
It's A Lonely Town (Lonely Without You) - Gene McDaniels
Judy, Judy, Judy - Johnny Tillotson [7]
Shall I Tell Her - Dionne Warwick
Troubled Mind - Dion
The Ups And Downs Of Love - Freddy Cannon

1964
Always Is A Long, Long Time - Michael Holliday
(I'm) Gonna Cry 'Til My Tears Run Dry - Irma Thomas [8]
Lucy (You Sure Did It This Time) - The Dennisons
Tell Me What I Can Do - Tony Orlando, The Rattles
Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley
Wrong For Each Other - Andy Willams

1966
All The King's Horses (And All The King's Men) - Bobby Vinton
Bring Him Back - Cissy Houston
Never Say Yes - Elvis Presley
One Day - Gene Pitney
Petticoat White (Summer Sky Blue) - Bobby Vinton
(He's) Raining In My Sunshine - Jay & The Americans
Say Those Magic Words - The McCoys, The Birds [9]
(You Make Me Feel) So Good - The McCoys [9]
The World Of Broken Hearts - Cissy Houston
What Every Woman Lives For - Elvis Presley

1967
Double Trouble - Elvis Presley

Year / Artist uncertain
Hello, How Ya Been? Goodbye - Guitar Slim ( 1958? )
Leave It To Me - Band Of Angels
The Many Faces Of Love - Andy Williams

Louisville Music , The People Who Made It and Music of the 50's and 60's

Bill Bailey, disc jockey known as 'Duke of Louisville,' dies at age 81

Bill Bailey, disc jockey known as 'Duke of Louisville,' dies at age 81

It's Christmas Time Again

Count Floyd- 03 Reggae Christmas Eve In Transylvania

Update On Sep 26 2011 Post Love Bound

Paul Cowley RIP and Thanks for the Great Memories

In Memoriam Wardell Quezergue - New Orleans Producer , Arranger and Master of Funk

Read More from Stereophile

Doo Wop memories and Keeping The Sound Alive

Celebrating 75th Birthday of Hardy Martin in Louisville with some well known musicians

From Louisville : Radio Vinyl Nostalgia on spreaker.com

More on The Mariners

Shopping In Louisville in the 60's

Recalling The Mariners on their 50th anniversary and the Louisville Folk Scene

Pittsburgh - A Feature from 1989 about Buddy Holly and more on the famous DJ Porky Chedwick

Marvin Maxwell and The Sambo tapes

Live Lunch on WFPK with Soul Inc and their new CD

The Story Of Soul, Inc. by Rick Mattingly from the Website http://soulinc.net/

My Morning Jacket on New Buddy Holly Album

Doo Wop from Spain

Upcoming Events June 23 Sound&Shape and June 25 WAKY Rock and Roll Reunion at the Zoo

Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame - Where are the Monarchs ?

Derby Week Special- To Get You In The Starting Gate For Saturday

Final Installment :Swamp Pop and The 2011 Swamp Pop reunion in Ville Platte LA

Shreveport LA -Dale Hawkins and James Burton Susie Q

More On James Burton http://www.james-burton.net/portal/the-man/biographyJames Burton and Dale Hawkins live at the House Of Blues in New Orleans Added Bonus : Louisiana Hayride Elvis from 1954 on radio

More on Robin Hood Studios in Tyler , Texas with a Louisville Connection

[edit]Musical highlights

[edit]Post breakup

[edit]Retrospective albums

[edit]Band members

[edit]Mouse ("A Public Execution")[15].

North in Louisiana

Moving South - Swamp Pop

Motown Sound Coming at you from North England as Northern Soul The Debonaires

Remembering The Teen Clubs and Teen Dance Venues 12/31/10 New Years Eve

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee - Darlene Love - More Girl Group Sounds

Girl Groups of the 50's and 60's you may have missed

Marci and Mates - Pomus and Shuman

More On James Burton
http://www.james-burton.net/portal/the-man/biography

James Burton and Dale Hawkins live at the House Of Blues in New Orleans

Added Bonus :
Louisiana Hayride
Elvis from 1954 on radio

[edit]Mouse ("A Public Execution")^[15].