One online review I read stated that Sonny is a cross between jump blues master Louis Jordan and the Delmore Brothers, a hillbilly act consisting of Alton and Ramon Delmore whose close harmony singing style pre-dated that of the Everly Brothers by some twenty years, and in the 1940s were pioneers of hillbilly boogie, sounding very much like Sun Records-era Elvis – at least musically.

Today, Sonny Burgess is best remembered for his composition “Red Headed Woman,” recorded at his debut session on May 2, 1956. My personal favorite is “Sadie’s Back In Town” from 1960, a driving rocker complete with a hilarious Donald Duck voice-over supplied by drummer Raymond Thompson.
What set Sonny’s music apart from other rockabilly artists of the era was the fact that, during his first two recordings sessions, he recorded with a trumpet player named Jack Nance, who also doubled as a drummer (Russell Smith was the drummer when Nance’s trumpet was required).

In addition to “Red Headed Woman,” some of the other tracks from Sonny’s pen include “We Wanna Boogie,” “Daddy Blues,” “Gone,” “Truckin’ Down The Avenue”, and “Find My Baby For Me,” but if you were a musician in the 1950s, it was hard not to be affected by black music. Hell, even Pat Boone got in on the deal, if only to clean up rock ‘n’ roll’s “dirty” image. But don’t worry, I have no intention of going down the Pat Boone path – it’s too neat. What follows is a run through of some of the black music covered by Sonny Burgess, truly one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest and most original artists.

“My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” was written by New Orleans jazz and blues pianist, publisher, composer, agent, record producer, and vocalist Clarence Williams. Williams had accompanied a number of female blues singers in the 1920s, most notably Bessie Smith in 1923. He also composed Bessie’s “Gulf Coast Blues,” “Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home” and “T’aint Nobody’s Bizness If I Do”. “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It,” however, was recorded by countless artists, including Louis Armstrong, Lefty Frizzell, Bill Haley, Ricky Nelson, Mr. Acker Bilk, Johnny Carroll, Dwight Yoakum, and, included on the CD Good Rockin’ Tonight – The Legacy Of Sun Records, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Sonny Burgess recorded his version on August 15, 1957, for Sun, most likely learning the tune through Hank Williams’ 1950 version, a #2 smash on the C&W charts that year.

“My Babe” comes from the pen of Willie Dixon. Well, at least lyrically. Recorded by Sonny at the same session that produced “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It,” the song has its roots in black gospel, recorded in early September 1922, by the Florida Normal and Industrial Institute Quartet as “Dis Train” (“Dis train don’t carry no liars, dis train”). On January 10, 1939, gospel singer and guitar wizard Sister Rosetta Tharpe recorded the song as “This Train” for Decca Records. In August 1943, with the recording ban in full swing thanks to the war, she performed the song in Hollywood for a live broadcast backed by Louis Jordan and The Tympani Five for the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS), which served as one form of entertainment for the men and women overseas. The performance was later issued to military bases and short-wave radio stations in the U.S. and overseas as Jubilee 41: a 15-inch, 33 rpm “Jubilee” transcription. She recorded the song two more times in July 1947, where it was recorded for Downbeat and made a second time for Decca. The song was first recorded under the title “My Babe” seven and a half years later, on January 25, 1955, by Chicago blues harmonica genius Little Walter Jacobs (“My babe don’t stand no cheatin’, my babe”). Little Walter’s version features Willie Dixon himself on bass and, on guitar, Robert Jr. Lockwood, stepson of 1930s Delta blues legend Robert Johnson. In the hands of Little Walter, the song became a standard in both the blues and pop fields, covered by Bo Diddley, the Coasters, the Animals, Ricky Nelson, the Everly Brothers, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Elvis Presley, Ike and Tina Turner, and the Tornados, just to name a few.

One of the classic blues recordings to come out of Sun Records was “Feelin’ Good” by Little Junior’s Blue Flames, released in 1953 as Sun single 187. Partly based on John Lee Hooker’s 1948 smash “Boogie Chillen,” “Feelin’ Good” features guitarist Floyd Murphy. It is Murphy’s tasty half blues/half country guitar licks that Sun owner Sam Phillips played for his rockabilly guitarists and instructed them to sound like. In 1957 or 1958, Sonny and his band recorded “Feelin’ Good,” giving the song a stronger backbeat that matched the excitement of the Blue Flames’ more laid back original.

Perhaps recorded at the same session that produced “Feelin’ Good” (the discography lists ten titles as if they were recorded in one session, yet the heading reads “Unknown Dates: 1957-1958″), Sonny tackled “So Glad You’re Mine,” credited to Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, who recorded the tune on February 22, 1946, for Bluebird with Armond Jackson on the drum stool. Two takes as recorded by Sonny exist, one intro with piano, the other with guitar. Clearly the latter is the more exciting of the two, with Sonny’s enthusiastic shouts of “Oooo, whee!” and “Yeah!” sprinkled over a driving tempo complete with one of Sonny’s hottest guitar solos. The band is really inspired on this take.

During this same period, Sonny recorded “One Night” as originally recorded by New Orleans singer/guitarist Smiley Lewis on October 25, 1955, for Imperial Records (Lewis sang, “One night of sin… is what I’m now paying for”). The song, “cleaned up” yet still suggestive, was served to the public most famously when recorded by Elvis Presley in February 1957 (“One night with you… is what I’m now prayin’ for”). It should be noted that a month earlier, in January of that year, Elvis recorded the song with its original “sin” lyric. Thankfully, Sonny also sang the song the way it was meant to be heard.

Sonny Burgess recorded two more tracks originally put down for posterity by Smiley Lewis: “Ain’t Gonna Do It” was recorded in New Orleans in October 1952. Like most of Smiley Lewis’ recordings, it was written or co-written by bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter, arranger Dave Barthlomew, who is also responsible for the recordings of Fats Domino. Like “So Glad You’re Mine,” two versions exist of Sonny performing “Ain’t Gonna Do It,” the first from 1956/1957 (unfortunately for collectors, Sam Phillips was not one who took session details to heart) while the second is from early 1957.
“Please Listen To Me” was first recorded by Smiley Lewis for Imperial on March 20, 1956. Sonny’s Sun version was recorded a year later. An overdub session was held on May 13, 1957, in which Sonny’s versions of “Ain’t Gonna Do It” and “Please Listen To Me” received backing vocals.

“Fannie Brown” is credited to R&B shouter Roy Brown, whose version was released as DeLuxe 1128 as “Miss Fanny Brown” in December 1947 as the flipside of a tune called “Mighty Mighty Man”. All is true – except I don’t know if “Fannie Brown” and “Miss Fanny Brown” are two versions of the same song. According to Nick Tosches’ incredible book Unsung Heroes Of Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Birth Of Rock In The Wild Years Before Elvis, the only other “Fanny Brown” titles listed in Roy Brown’s discography are “Miss Fanny Brown Returns” (DeLuxe 1189; September 194 and “Fanny Brown Got Married” (King 4761; December 1954). Therefore, since we don’t have Roy Brown’s “Miss Fanny Brown” in order to compare it to Sonny Burgess’ “Fannie Brown,” I’m going to conclude that they are the same song with slightly different titles – but I could, of course, be wrong. If so, I will make a note of correction in a future article. All that matters for now is that you readers know that Sonny got the tune from Roy Brown.

Having said all that, “Fannie Brown,” as spelled in the hands of Sun, was recorded during the 1956-1957 time frame and also exists in two takes. The song, judging from Sonny’s version, is clearly molded on Louis Jordan’s “Caldonia Boogie” from 1945 “Caldonia! Caldonia! What makes your big head so hard?”). Fannie Brown “Fannie! Fannie! Fannie! Fannie! What makes me love you so much?”).

The Drifters, one of the greatest vocal groups of all-time, had countless hits beginning in 1953, with sixteen Top 40 hits between 1959 and 1964. The songs, all recorded for Atlantic Records, featured several lead vocalists who passed through the ranks of the great group throughout the years, including Ben E. King. The first, and arguably the greatest, of their lead singers, however, was a man named Clyde McPhatter, formerly of Billy Ward and the Dominoes (on December 30, 1950, the Dominoes, featuring McPhatter, recorded “Sixty Minute Man” for Federal, a song about “Lovin’ Dan” who could please a woman for an hour without missing a beat. “Sixty Minute Man” became a #1 R&B smash for fourteen weeks in 1951, and even reached #17 on the pop charts, a significant accomplishment considering it was the era of harmless pop singers such as Patti Page and Rosemary Clooney). In 1953, upon McPhatter’s departure from the Dominoes to form the Drifters, Ward hired Clyde’s replacement: the great Jackie Wilson.

Considering the fact that the Drifters were popular from 1953 until well into the 1960s, McPhatter’s stay with the group was incredibly short, lasting only from June 1953 to October 1954, before being drafted and embarking on a successful solo career upon his release. His two biggest hits were “A Lover’s Question” (1959) and “Lover Please” (1962).

A song entitled “What’Cha Gonna Do,” written by Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, who, it should be noted, gleaned the song from a spiritual by gospel group the Radio Four, was recorded by the Drifters on three separate occasions: at their debut session, held on June 28, 1953; their second session on August 9th of that year, and again at their fourth session, held on February 4, 1954. They finally got it right on the third attempt as it became a #2 R&B smash.

Two versions of “What’Cha Gonna Do” as recorded by Sonny Burgess were included on the 2-CD compilation The Classic Recordings: 1956-1959, released in 1991 by Bear Family, though neither were released at the time: the first, recorded in Memphis possibly on August 14, 1957; the second sometime in 1957 or 1958. Both takes are fine, with the only chief difference being that the first features a nicely-picked acoustic guitar throughout while the second does not.

Sonny Burgess promoted black music in a small yet significant way. Small because Sonny is a fish in an endless sea of white musicians inspired by their black counterparts. Significant because his sound was exciting, made during a highly creative period in history, and recorded under the right conditions, as Sun Records valued feeling over technical expertise and didn’t have a clock in the studio, therefore eliminating pressure on the musicians to finish within a certain time frame. Do yourselves a favor and check out Sonny’s music and the music that inspired him. You’ll be glad you did.

Copyright 2006 JacoFan Music. All Rights Reserved.

Come closer now If you wanna talk to me

(Spotify members can listen to the whole album below)

Recommended Tracks: Do you Like What You See · Break Away · Shake It Out

Hil, Sharon, Mavourneen,
Phiz, Rett, Lyle, Sev

When Alexis Korner’s musical partner in Blues Incorporated, Cyril Davies, died in 1964, Korner replaced him with Graham Bond, a British jazz saxophonist who resembled Pavarotti. Eventually, Bond left Korner and took Bruce and Baker with him to form his own band, the Graham Bond Organization (British jazz guitarist John McLaughlin was a brief member of the Organization, but was fired for his erratic playing style. McLaughlin found fame in the early ’70s when he started his own band, the jaw-dropping Mahavishnu Orchestra).

The Graham Bond Organization – Bond on organ/vocals; Bruce on bass/vocals; Baker on drums; Dick Heckstall-Smith on sax – released two albums in 1965: There’s A Bond Between Us and The Sound Of ’65. Both albums, full of a “Swinging London” jazz beat, contain remakes of blues/R&B standards as well as early versions of songs that would become Cream classics.

Tired of the ongoing arguments between he and Baker, Jack Bruce quit the Graham Bond Organization and jammed with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers while Clapton was still a member – do you see where this is going? – before briefly joining Manfred Mann (Bruce can be heard on their single “Pretty Flamingo”).

Ginger Baker, who admired Clapton’s work, wanted to form a band with Eric (Clapton had sat in with the Graham Bond Organization from time to time). Clapton, who admired Ginger’s work, was keen on the idea, and, unaware that Bruce and Baker didn’t get along, suggested Jack Bruce be the bassist. Unable to deny Jack’s musical skills, Baker agreed. The three got together, naming themselves Cream as each was the others’ favorite musician.

The first Cream LP, Fresh Cream, was released in Dec. 1966 in the UK and in Jan. 1967 in the US. It contains the classic “I Feel Free” and their first single, “Wrapping Paper,” as well as a handful of blues classics: “I’m So Glad” comes from the pen of Nehemiah “Skip” James, who wrote and recorded the original in February 1931 for Paramount Records. “Four Until Late” was recorded by Robert Johnson on June 19, 1937, for Vocalion as “From Four Until Late” (compare the beginning of both versions and you’ll clearly hear why I feel that ’20s and ’30s blues guitarists were playing rock riffs). “Rollin’ And Tumblin’” was first cut by Hambone Willie Newbern as “Roll And Tumble Blues” on March 14, 1929, for Okeh Records. It was remade in January 1950 by Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Baby Face Leroy for Parkway Records (not to be confused with the pop label Cameo/Parkway). The Parkway version is intense. Recorded in two parts, it features Muddy’s raw electric slide, Walter’s harmonica, and Baby Face Leroy’s rapid bass drum. It is this version that inspired Cream’s version. As Muddy was signed to Chess Records, Leonard Chess, having learned of Muddy’s association with Parkway, had Muddy recut “Rollin’ And Tumblin’” in February. Despite Leonard’s vow to release a superior version, it is clearly the Parkway version which is the more exciting of the two, as the Chess release featured only Muddy’s guitar with bass accompaniment. Fresh Cream also features Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful,” first cut by Howlin’ Wolf, also for Chess, in June 1960. Even by 1960 standards, the “spoonful” theme was not a new one: Charley Patton cut “A Spoonful Blues” at his debut session on June 14, 1929, and Charley Jordan cut “Just A Spoonful” in June 1930. Rounding out Fresh Cream’s blues covers is “Cat’s Squirrel,” cut by Doctor Ross for Sun Records in or around 1953 as “Cat Squirrel,” though it was not released at that time. The version cut by Cream, however, was molded from Ross’ 1959 remake for Fortune Records.

Note: The UK version of Fresh Cream contained “Spoonful” but omitted “I Feel Free” while the US version of the LP contained “I Feel Free” but omitted “Spoonful”. Both tracks are released on the CD edition the album.

Cream released their second LP, the classic Disraeli Gears, in November 1967. The album placed more emphasis on psychedelia – after all, the year was 1967 – but it was not without its blues influences.

Disraeli Gears contained the hits “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “Strange Brew,” and “Tales Of Brave Ulysses”. The source for Clapton’s solo in “Strange Brew” was taken note-for-note from bluesman Albert King’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” cut on August 3, 1966 for Stax Records – one of the premier labels for ’60s soul.

“Outside Woman Blues,” also found on Disraeli Gears, is credited to Blind Joe Reynolds, who recorded the song circa November 1929 for Paramount. However, the song was first recorded by blues queen Ida Cox circa July 1926, also for Paramount, under the title ‘Fore Day Creep”. Cox sang the song again at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve, 1939 at the From Spirituals To Swing concert, which showcased the best of black and black-oriented music [Ida Cox: Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 4. DOCD 5325].
Actually, there were two From Spirituals To Swing concerts. The first was held at the same location a year earlier, on December 23, 1938. Both shows were organized by blues/jazz enthusiast, record producer and talent scout John Hammond. It was the first time many of the artists appeared before a predominantly white audience. Robert Johnson was scheduled to perform but it was discovered that he was murdered. His replacement on the Carnegie Hall stage was vocalist/guitarist Big Bill Broonzy.

In 1999, Vanguard released the 3-CD boxed set From Spirituals To Swing, which features the best of both concerts plus a handful of studio sides (it was initially released as a two record set in 1959). The CD’s come with a reproduction of the program to the 1938 concert, which alone makes the set worth owning. It contains an essay written by Hammond and James Dugan entitled The Music Nobody Knows. It begins in a most interesting way: “The music that will be presented in New Masses’ [the sponsors of the show] From Spirituals To Swing program is rarely heard. To be sure, it is not rare, for America is rich with it, but serious audiences have neglected it, and it has had to find its followers among uncritical groups.” I feel this statement still holds much truth.

But getting back to Cream.
Cream were essentially two bands: a studio band and a live band. Their third album, Wheels Of Fire, released in August 1968, demonstrated this aspect in that it was released as a two-record set: the first LP was studio; the second, live. Live, Cream improvised endlessly, thus becoming an exciting hybrid of blues, jazz and rock. After all, the key element of jazz is improvisation.

The studio half contained the Cream classics “White Room,” “Pressed Rat And Warthog,” “Deserted Cities Of The Heart,” and “Politician,” plus the blues standards “Sitting On Top Of The World,” first recorded by black string band the Mississippi Sheiks in 1930, and Albert King’s “Born Under A Bad Sign,” recorded by King on May 17, 1967. The song was written by Stax artist William Bell and Booker T. Jones of Booker T. and the MG’s. Booker T. and the MG’s were the house band for Stax Records in addition to releasing hits of their own, most notably 1962′s “Green Onions”.

The live half of Wheels Of Fire featured an improvised, 16:39 version of “Spoonful” which builds a tension that never climaxes, leaving the listener riveted throughout and wanting more when it finally ends. “Crossroads,” recorded March 10, 1968, at Winterland in San Francisco, is also from this album. Robert Johnson first recorded this tune as “Cross Road Blues” on November 27, 1936.

The first Robert Johnson LP, King Of The Delta Blues Singers, released in 1961 – 23 years after his death at age 27 from poisoning on August 16, 1938, and not a week before the first From Spirituals To Swing concert the moment he learned he was to appear on the Carnegie Hall stage as stated in the program mentioned above – contains the alternate take of “Cross Road Blues,” making Cream’s version (and all other versions) molded after the “wrong” take, for lack of a better term. The version issued on 78rpm as Vocalion 03519, ends with the lyric “And I went to the crossroad, mama… I looked east and west… I went to the crossroad, baby… I looked east and west… Lord, I didn’t have no sweet woman… Ooh-well, babe, in my distress” as opposed to the far more famous “You can run, you can run… tell my friend-boy Willie Brown… you can run… tell my friend-boy Willie Brown… Lord, that I’m standin’ at the crossroad, babe… I believe I’m sinkin’ down.” Cream’s version has not been edited as has often been speculated.
I should state that the “Willie Brown” mentioned above was a contemporary of Delta bluesmen Charley Patton and Son House. Willie Brown recorded two country blues classics, “M & O Blues” and “Future Blues,” on May 28, 1930, in Grafton, Wisconsin – the same session that produced Son House’s first masterpieces. Charley Patton, also in attendance, cut four songs that day.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that it was the duet of Son House and Willie Brown whom Robert Johnson followed, watched perform, and tried to imitate when the two older musicians took breaks only to be ridiculed for his lack of talent. Later, Robert Johnson astounded House with his guitar skills; attained, Robert said, by selling his soul to the Devil. The location this “exchange” took place? The crossroads, of course.

Cream disbanded in 1968. Contributing factors were Bruce and Baker’s ongoing arguments, the ever-increasing volume of Cream’s live performances (which damaged Baker’s hearing), and, most significantly, a scathing review in Rolling Stone that attacked the group in general and Clapton specifically. There was also Music From Big Pink, the 1968 debut of the Band. Music From Big Pink is an album of well-written, straightforward songs played by multi-talented musicians which made the members of Cream rethink their own motives. After hearing Music From Big Pink, Cream felt that what they were doing was pointless. This writer hardly thinks so.

Cream played their final US gig in Providence, Rhode Island and their farewell gig at the Royal Albert Hall on November 27, 1968. The latter was filmed by the BBC and is available on DVD.

Despite disbanding in 1968, Cream did release one more album: Goodbye.
Like Wheels Of Fire before it, Goodbye, released in March 1969, was split between live and studio tracks. The album opens with a furious nine minute jam on Skip James’ “I’m So Glad,” recorded live on October 19, 1968, at the Forum in Los Angeles. James, who died of cancer a year later, on October 3, 1969, at age 67, said of “I’m So Glad” after learning of Cream’s rendition: “That piece is absolutely gonna stand.” Also from the October 19th show is “Sitting On Top Of The World”. Credited to Howlin’ Wolf, this version is far more exciting than its studio counterpart found on Wheels Of Fire. Among Goodbye’s studio tracks is the radio-friendly “Badge,” written by Clapton with George Harrison.
In June 1970 (the month and year yours truly was born) and June 1972 came Live Cream and Live Cream, Volume 2, respectively. Live Cream features a fiery version of “Rollin’ And Tumblin’,” recorded March 7, 1968, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. It also features one studio track, “Lawdy Mama,” an outtake from the 1967 Disraeli Gears sessions. The original was recorded on July 8, 1935, as “Hey Lawdy Mama” by Bumble Bee Slim for Decca Records. Live Cream, Volume 2 includes a 13:29 version “Stepping Out,” recorded at the same gig that gave us “Crossroads”. It is largely a showcase for Clapton in that he solos without bass/drum accompaniment throughout most of the recording. Cream’s BBC version of “Stepping Out,” released in 1988 on Eric Clapton’s 4-CD boxed set Crossroads and in 2003 on Cream’s BBC Sessions, is mighty fine, also. The original “Stepping Out” was done by blues pianist Memphis Slim and released on his Vee-Jay LP At The Gate Of Horn in 1959. Despite the title, the album is a studio release.

In 1991, Cream were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame. The group performed three songs, which proved to be an emotional reunion. In May 2005, Cream played four shows at the Royal Albert Hall, the sight of their farewell gig 37 years earlier. They also played New York’s Madison Square Garden. In 2005, a DVD and a 2-CD set were released of the Royal Albert Hall performances. The CD contains Cream classics and blues standards, including a tune never recorded by Cream in their 1960s prime: “Stormy Monday,” recorded by electric blues guitarist T-Bone Walker in 1947. The new releases show that, while the fire has dimmed a bit, the magic never left.

Cream ended two years before I was born, but I smile just knowing that Baker, Bruce and Clapton toured together during my adulthood.

© 2007 JacoFan Music. All Rights Reserved
Photo: Public Domain

Both sides came together quite powerfully in 1954 with the release of Elvis’ debut single: one side featured “That’s All Right,” a tune written and recorded by bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup on September 6, 1946; the other “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” a country piece by Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass boys.

My view is that rock’n'roll did not begin with Sun Records, Elvis, Bill Haley or anyone else to that made their mark in the 1950s.  What happened was that black music was being discovered by an ever-growing number of black and, more importantly, white, teenagers, and those teenagers had more money than previous generations.  What did they spend their money on? Records, for one, and by doing so they popularized what already existed, causing rock’n'roll – which had been around for decades, known largely throughout the South and in black communities  – to unleash itself on an unsuspecting nation.

But a new generation of rockers had been born; the ones from the pre-1950s period were largely – and sadly – forgotten.  One suggestion – and there’s been several – has been that record companies wasted no time promoting then-new rockers such as Elvis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard and therefore couldn’t be bothered reissuing their older catalogs (in addition to Chuck Berry, Chess also had Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf; in addition to Little Richard, Specialty also had Joe and Jimmy Liggins, and so forth.)
The music has been evolving since the dawn of the recording industry in the 1890s.  The first black music to be recorded were spirituals.  It hardly matters what one calls it, be it folk music, variations on the blues, or rock ‘n’ roll.  What matters most of all is that people realize that music, i.e. pop/rock, is all connected and that it all comes from the same source.  In my personal opinion, that source is the African field holler.  It is my hope that the connection between musical styles is evident, if even slightly, as we examine the original versions of songs covered by Elvis Presley.

Personnel on the original “That’s All Right” is: Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, guitar and vocal; Ransom Knowling, bass and Judge Riley, drums.  The sound, though from the R&B/blues mold, is almost rockabilly in nature.

I’ll wrap this essay up with a quote from Elvis the Pelvis himself from a 1956 interview:
“The Colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I’m doin’ now, man, for more years than I know… they played it like that in the shanties and juke joints, and nobody paid it no mind till I goosed it up.  I got it from them.  Down in Tupelo, Mississippi, I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place I could feel what old Arthur felt, I’d be a music man like nobody ever saw.”

Photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

The song features Monroe on lead vocals and mandolin, Lester Flatt on guitar, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Chubby Wise on fiddle and Howard Watts on string bass.

Elvis recorded both “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” between July 5th and 6th, 1954; possibly even on the same day. It was released that same month as Sun 209. Sam Phillips (owner of Sun) took both recordings to Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips (no relation to Sam) and played them for him. Convinced it was a hit record, Dewey wanted to play it on his show immediately, so Sam cut acetates of the recordings for Dewey to play and he wound up playing both sides many times over, causing what has been said to be a total of 47 calls to the station along with 14 telegrams wanting to know “what was that?!?!”

On Thursday July 8th, Dewey had interviewed Elvis in the studio. Since everyone thought Elvis was black, one of the things that Dewey asked him was where he went to high school. Elvis said “Humes” – proving that Elvis was, in fact, white since Humes was an all-white school.

The record wound up being a local smash. In fact, the success of Elvis’ debut caused Bill Monroe to recut “Blue Moon of Kentucky” in the same style that Elvis cut his – rockabilly! (I should say here that rockabilly in the ’50s was really nothing new, either: in the ’40s it was called hillbilly boogie, a style performed by Hank Williams, The Delmore Brothers, Hardrock Gunter and Roy Hall, to name a few. Look for these artists in future editions of ‘Roots’.)

Photo: Public Domain

The success of Brown’s single finally caused Harris to record his version of the song, which he did in Cincinnati on December 28, 1947. It was released as King 4210 and by June of ’48 would reach #1 on the race charts, ushering in a tougher brand of R&B and inspiring countless songs with the word “rocking” in its title in the process.

It was most likely the Wynonie Harris version which inspired Elvis to record “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” which he cut in September of ’54 and would become his second single for Sun, released sometime during that month with “I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine” on the flip as Sun 210. After all, it was while watching Wynonie Harris perform in Memphis in the early 1950s that Elvis learned to curl his lip and swivel his hips.

Personnel on the Roy Brown version of “Good Rockin’ Tonight” includes Tony Moret on trumpet, Clement Tervalone on trombone, O’Neil Jerome on alto sax and Robert Ogden on drums (other personnel unknown). Personnel on the Wynonie Harris version include jazz veteran Hot Lips Page on trumpet, Joe Britton on trombone, Vincent Bair-Bey on alto sax, Tom Archia and Hal Singer on tenor saxes, Joe Knight on piano, Carl “Flat Top” Wilson on bass and Clarence “Bobby” Donaldson on drums.

Freddie Bell and the Bellboys consisted of vocalist Freddie Bell, saxophonist Jack Kane, bassist Frankie Brent, pianist Russ Conti, drummer Chick Keeney and trumpeter Jerry Mango. They brought rock’n'roll to the gambling clubs and casinos of Las Vegas and Reno. Their shows were energetic and professional. They appeared in the films Rock Around the Clock and Rumble On the Docks and toured Britain, France, Manila, Australia, Sinagpore and Hong Kong. All of which are reasons why Freddie Bell and the Bellboys thrived without having a hit record here in the States.

Their first release was “Hound Dog,” cut in early 1955 and released on the small Teen label as Teen 101 but in April 1956 – over a year later – Elvis was booked into the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. Elvis bombed but it offered him a chance to catch Freddie Bell and the Bellboys’ stage act. He was impressed and asked Bell about “Hound Dog” to which Bell told Elvis to go ahead and record it.

Elvis performed “Hound Dog” on the Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956, doing a bump-and-grind version which caused alot of controversy, which is interesting since Bell cleaned up the lyrics when covering the Thornton original, much like Bill Haley cleaned up the Big Joe Turner hit “Shake, Rattle & Roll”. Anyway, Elvis cut his version of “Hound Dog” a little over a month later – on July 2 – the day after singing the song to a basset hound on The Steve Allen Show to make up for his “dirty” appearance on the Berle show.

Until this time, all covers of “Hound Dog” copied the arrangement of the Big Mama Thornton version but when Elvis cut the song it became the only arrangement, which spurred versions by Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, The Everly Brothers and Conway Twitty – all of which owe a debt to Freddie Bell.

According to the liner notes to Rockin’ Is Our Business, the Freddie Bell and the Bellboys CD released by Bear Family in 1996, “Bell could see the future of his arrangement and re-recorded “Hound Dog” in May 1956, some two months previous to Presley, but Mercury sat on it and it only appeared later hidden away on Bell’s album Rock & Roll… All Flavors”. Unfortunately, Mercury wasn’t on the same page and Bell couldn’t hitch a ride on the Presley hit.”

The second decade of the 21st century seems to be a good time for singer/songwriters and there’s none better than Luthea Salom. After a very exciting year 2011, in which she won the “CrankYour Cred” award for the month of June, could she be set for a major breakthrough in 2012?

In February her third album “A Kick In The Head” was officially released, and after the highly rated “Sunbeam Surrounded By Winter” it was certainly a challenge for Luthea. But to say that it was as good as its predecessor wouldn’t be doing it justice. With “Kick In The Head” Luthea has taken a massive leap forward. If “Sunbeam Surrounded By Winter” was bitter-sweet, then “Kick In The Head” is happiness in a jar… and its the little things in life that bring so much happiness (“I wanted to be a happy bee flying out the window flirting with every flower and then making honey”). “Be Me”, “Happy” are songs of joy and even more serious subjects like Heartbreak are packed into hopeful ditties with a positive message (“so I say better swallow this mush”)

Luthea herself is carefully happy with the start of her 3rd LP since its official release.

“well, it literally just came out a month ago and so far I’m very happy. it was immediately accepted into Pandora Radio, which is a great USA internet radio station and i’m starting to get some enthusiastic reviews from well known music magazines. also people’s reaction to my live show has been very good and that’s also a great thing. my team is currently pitching the songs for films and TV commercials, let’s hope we get lucky! you never know what can happen! song “blank piece of paper” won best song for the month of june by Crank Your Cred by ISC, then the video made it as a semi finlaist for the general ISC contest and before the summer we will also be submitting it to the grammy awards. so, knock on wood!”

Things are already starting to go her way in her spanish home, after extensive touring in 2011 she was invited to take part in the prestigious Palau de la Música presented by RAC1, where she played in front of her biggest audience to date. By all accounts it went down a storm!! And she has a full programme set up for the coming year with a full scale tour of Spain in March/April.

“I plan to tour Spain in the spring and the summer and then start working on my new album which I’m hoping to record at the end of the year. Also we are trying to enter other european markets with the album. In the USA I plan to be touring the north east coast throughout the year in order to promote the CD that was released in february. We will also be making a couple more official videos for songs Be Me, 37 Kisses and maybe another animation video for song Signs”

The new video for “Be Me” by the way, was released a couple of days ago (see below).

At last I get around to presenting a song, that I have wanted to do for a few months now. It was Sev that gave me the idea (he might just remember if his memory is any better than mine).

Blue Mink was a British five-piece pop group, that existed from 1969 to 1974. Over that period they had six Top 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums. According to Allmusic: “they have been immortalised on a string of compilation albums, each recounting the string of effervescent hits that established them among Britain’s best-loved pop groups of the early 1970s”.

Roger Coulam (born Roger Keith Coulam, 26 April 1944, England) (organist) formed the band in the autumn of 1969, with Madeline Bell (vocalist), Roger Cook (vocalist), Herbie Flowers (bassist), and Barry Morgan (drummer) (born November 1944, London died 1 November 2007). Most of the songs were written by Cook and Roger Greenaway (ring a bell Sev).

Todays choice was their first single, which reached the British Top Ten, peaking at no. 3 in 1969. To be truthful it was a favorite of my mothers, I didn’t like it at all. Today, however, I do enjoy the music. The lyrics are a little controversial, some of the words that were at the time common British slang now sound a little different, undermining the intent of the song. However, I won’t go into this further. Just enjoy the music!

Your lyrics were:

Mick and Lady Faithfull, Lord and Mrs. Graceful

PhizMavourneenJayne and the gangPeter
SharonDianaSevLyleDanBrenda

Lyrics courtesy of  Phiz, Sharon, Lyle and Dan

[audiotube url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEGYmiYHfLU" caption="Blue Mink - Melting Pot (streamed from youtube)"]

Realising that she wouldn’t be able to follow up on “Seasons of My Soul” with an LP containing her own material quickly enough to keep up the momentum, she decided to do the cover versions.

The tracklist was released on her Facebook page yesterday:
P.F. Sloan – Jimmy Webb, Be Nice To Me – Todd Rundgren, It Could Be The First Day – Richie Havens, Travelin’ Boy – Paul Williams, A Man Needs A Maid – Neil Young, Soulsville – Isaac Hayes, The Same Old Tears On A New Background – Stephen Bishop, Soul Rebel – Bob Marley, Flyin’ Shoes – Townes Van Zandt, Home Thoughts From Abroad – Clifford T Ward, We Will – Gilbert O Sullivan, My Cricket – Leon Russell

Special Edition:
Sara Smile -Hall and Oates, Just For A Moment – Ronnie Lane, Andre Johray – Tim Hardin, Brave Awakening – Terry Reid, Welcome Back – John Sebastian.

Although these songs may be obscure for todays generation, there are some well known songs on the list.

Rumer’s next own album is scheduled for summer 2013 and will be titled – according to Rumer – “Into Color” and will reflect the direction she wants to take with her music in the future. “if ‘Seasons of My Soul’ is blue, ‘Into Color’ is going to be yellow – sunnier, more hopeful, happier”, she says. ]]> http://my.music-movement.com/2012/03/rumers-boys-dont-cry-set-for-may-release/feed/ 1