Well, bust my britches, here it is January 8, Elvis Presley's birthday! Now, a mere 20 days after the young rock crooner had celebrated his 21st, back in 1956, he stepped onto the stage at CBS Studio in New York City and made his
US national television debut, on the Dorsey Brothers show. Seems he was hot property from the get-go, cause he was back on that stage, straightaway, for five more appearances, on February
4th,
11th and
18th, then again on March
17th and
24th. And, yeah, heck, he was pretty good.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jan 8, 2012 -
42 comments
A lady, back in 1957, addressing the camera in an elegant evening gown, fit for some grand society ball, had this message for the oldsters: "Now, whatever you think of rock and roll, I think you have to keep a nice, open mind about what the young people go for." She then proceeded to announce Buddy Holly and the Crickets, who obligingly performed their hit
Peggy Sue for the ballroom dancers' pleasure and edification. That same Buddy Holly would've been quite the oldster himself, had he lived to see today, his 75th birthday. So, if you have a little time on your hands today, you might like to learn more about Buddy by viewing
The Real Buddy Holly Story 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9 and
10. Cause, hey, Buddy was not only one of the most unique and vital voices of the early days of rock'n'roll, but he wore the same glasses that every other hipster in Berlin is wearing
right now.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 7, 2011 -
60 comments
Sleazefest: The Movie [
rather nsfw] is a documentary of the first Sleazefest, a two day festival of bands, barbecue, b-movies and beer that took place in August of 1994 at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. The festival was extended to three days and became an annual event for the next
decade.
[more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue
on Sep 1, 2010 -
3 comments
You Can't Catch Me, Music and Lyrics by Chuck Berry.
The Stones covered it. John Lennon was
sued (twice!) for
covering it and
appropriating the lyrics. If Iggy Pop and the Stooges were never sued for doing the same thing as "Come Together" in
1970, perhaps it's because nobody could understand what exactly he was saying,
not even the bands that took their names from the adapted lyrics. Perhaps JJ Cale was thinking of the chorus when he wrote
Call Me The Breeze in 1971. Finally, though Jonothan Richman's "Roadrunner" clearly took inspiration from the
Velvet Underground's Sister Ray and Bo Diddley's "
Road Runner"(
among other things), but,
as a Berry fan, you can hear Richman echoing the lyrics in the Spirit of 1956 going Faster Miles an Hour, with the radio on, tuned to Rock And Roll.
[more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue
on Jun 19, 2010 -
43 comments
Larry Williams is not as famous as many of his contemporaries, but was responsible for a long string of hits beginning with
Short Fat Fannie in 1957. He continued to produce such rock and roll staples as
Slow Down,
Bony Moronie, and
She Said Yeah. His songs are probably better known today through other artists' interpretations of his songs. Williams' songs have been covered by:
The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones,
The Beatles,
The Replacements,
The Beatles,
Johnny Winter,
The Who,
The Plastic Ono Band,
Paul McCartney, and
The Jam.
Also Sha Na Na. And every garage band in the world. [more inside]
posted by marxchivist
on Sep 30, 2009 -
14 comments
The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival was held forty years ago today. Performers included: the Doors, Alice Cooper, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. The highlight for many was the appearance of John Lennon. Lennon was backed by the Plastic Ono Band, then comprised of Eric Clapton,
Klaus Voorman, and
Alan White (w/occasional vocals by Yoko). "We're just gonna do numbers we know because we've never played together before."
D.A. Pennebaker filmed it . YouTube videos of Lennon's set:
Blue Suede Shoes,
Money,
Dizzy Miss Lizzy,
Yer Blues,
Cold Turkey, and
Give Peace a Chance.
[more inside]
posted by marxchivist
on Sep 13, 2009 -
11 comments
It's not so often that a US Top 40 chart hit is a song whose origins can be traced back 300 years, and even less often that such a song would be sung in Spanish. So when
Ritchie Valens went into a studio and recorded
La Bamba 50 years ago this month, he carved himself what would become a special place in American pop music history. It was one of those cases of the B side becoming the hit, though: the A side was
Oh Donna, which showcased a sweeter, croonier side of Valens (singing in English), but was a somewhat unremarkable tune on its own. Here's a
live recording of La Bamba by Valens, who, of course, along with rock'n'roll legend Buddy Holly, lost his life in an airplane crash just as his career was blossoming. Almost 30 years after
La Bamba's original release,
a version by Valens' natural heirs Los Lobos became a hit once again. And, admittedly, I didn't make it through the entire clip, but it's perhaps worth noting, for the record, that a
Barack Obama-related version is available for your listening and viewing, er, pleasure?
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 15, 2008 -
44 comments
Paul is NOT dead. Paul goes into the studio, alone, no songs prepared at all. Thirteen songs in thirteen days -- one each day -- Paul playing every instrument, writing lyrics on the fly, ripping a line from a poem, the next spontaneous, off the cuff, really gutsy. The album,
Electric Arguments, to be released next month.
[more inside]
posted by dancestoblue
on Oct 11, 2008 -
116 comments
If you've seen
clips of Bo Diddley performances from the early 60s, you'll surely have noticed the presence of one or more female guitarists on stage, churning out that chunky six-string rhythm alongside the esteemed Mr. Diddley. Might've been
Lady Bo that you've seen or heard, or it might've been
The Duchess. Either way, hats off to some fine guitarists: women who filled a job category generally reserved (especially at that time) for the menfolk.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Mar 4, 2008 -
13 comments
This week I've been perseverating on Chuck Berry's great 1964 song "You Never Can Tell", so now you get to too! Unless you're over 50, you probably know it from the
Thurman/Travolta dance in
Pulp Fiction, but here are some other versions worthy of your attention:
[more inside]
posted by ubiquity
on Feb 10, 2008 -
14 comments
Hey daddy-o, when you hear that big brash horn section pump out that
oddly familiar riff, only to stop cold and make way for that that prescient single note from an electric guitar, followed straightaway by a twangy voice in
perfect rockabilly delivery proclaiming "
well, she's got a dress that looks like a sack!", then brother, you're listening to the hoppin' boppin' sound of
Wally Deane's
Drag On. Once you hear it, you'll wonder why Quentin Tarrantino never put it in a movie.
Wally Deane: one of the greatest rockabilly acts you never heard of.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 8, 2007 -
21 comments
It's hard to think of any music that's any more
fun than
The Ventures, and here they are, live in Japan, 1965, at the top of their game. This footage is
really good:
Walk Don't Run.
Wipe Out.
Apache.
House of the Rising Sun.
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.
Flight of the Bumblebee.
The Cruel Sea . . . But WAIT!
Opening for the Ventures on that steamy summer night was homegrown Ventures
cover band
The M-Ventures! Straight outta Tokyo! Check out their versions of
The Pink Panther Theme,
Surf Rider and
Yellowjacket. And in case you were wondering if the Ventures' influence is
still being felt in Japan, well, check out 9-year-old guitarist Chicchi's versions of
The Cruel Sea,
Penetration,
Walk Don't Run and
Pipeline.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 19, 2007 -
36 comments
