From 1953, Sun # 181, Rufus 'Hound Dog' Thomas, '(The Answer To Hound Dog) Bear Cat', featuring Joe Hill Louis on guitar.
'Big Mama' Thornton had released 'Hound Dog' on Don Robey's Peacock label ou... View MoreFrom 1953, Sun # 181, Rufus 'Hound Dog' Thomas, '(The Answer To Hound Dog) Bear Cat', featuring Joe Hill Louis on guitar.
'Big Mama' Thornton had released 'Hound Dog' on Don Robey's Peacock label out of Houston. A mere few weeks later, SUN Records owner, Sam Phillips, had heard the song and had immediately rewritten the lyrics to express a man's point of view. He had called Rufus Thomas, a Dee Jay over at WDIA ('The Negros Radio Station'), and asked if he would like to sing it.
Phillips, however, had left the chord structure and melody fully intact. Don Robey, therefore, had brought a lawsuit against Phillips and sued him. Sam was already on shaky financial ground, and this lawsuit had brought him to near bankruptcy, forcing him to sell Elvis Presley's contract to RCA Victor for a mere $35,000.
Incidentally, the phrase, 'The Answer To Hound Dog', was deleted from all subsequent pressings leaving the title as simply, 'Bear Cat'.
Generally, the only single you find of The Johnny Otis Show is 'Hand Jive', which, incidentally, is NOT a reference to masturbation. That's what a group of would be 'Facebook Fact-Checkers' wanted peo... View MoreGenerally, the only single you find of The Johnny Otis Show is 'Hand Jive', which, incidentally, is NOT a reference to masturbation. That's what a group of would be 'Facebook Fact-Checkers' wanted people to believe.
Johnny Otis was born December 28, 1921 as Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes. He had passed away January 12, 2012. He was a multi-faceted man whose talents included being an American singer, musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, talent scout, disc jockey, record producer, television show host, artist, author, journalist, minister, and impresario. He was a strong influence in Rhythm & Blues and Rock and Roll.
He had personally discovered MANY future artists including, Jackie Wilson, Little Esther Phillips, Johnny Ace, Hank Ballard (of The Midnighters), Etta James, the R&B group The Robins (later changing their name to The Coasters), Little Willie John, and Big Mama Thornton. He has been referred to as 'The Godfather of Rhythm & Blues'. I find it sad that "Willie And The Hand Jive" is the only song this multi-talented man really known for, and in such a nefarious way.
He was born in Vallejo, California, to Greek immigrant parents. His father, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, his mother.. a painter. He had grown up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned his grocery store. Johnny had chosen to live his professional and personal life as a member of the African-American community.
He had once written, 'As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black'. And on that note, let me say this: many of my neighbors are Hispanic, and I have Black friends. NEVER HAD AN ISSUE WITH ANY OF THEM. The only people I HAVE had issues with .. were WHITE. It was on May 2, 1941 that Johnny had married Phyllis Walker. He was 19, she was 18.
She was of African American and Filipino descent, and they had known one another since childhood. This was back when interracial marriages were illegal. In spite of deep objections from his mother, they had eloped and married in Reno Nevada, where interracial marriages were accepted.
They had four children: two sons, Shuggie Otis and Nicholas Otis both of whom became musicians, two daughters, Janice and Laura. Johnny and Phyllis also raised Lucky Otis, Shuggie's son. Johnny, in 1955, had hosted a television show, The Johnny Otis Show, and became an influential disc jockey in Los Angeles, with a program on radio station KFOX in Long Beach. It was during this time, Otis had also started his own label, Ultra Records, which he had later changed to DIG after the first five singles.
Otis was also the founder and minister at the New Landmark Community Gospel Church, which held Sunday services in Santa Rosa, California. The church had closed in 1998. Johnny Otis had died of natural causes on January 17, 2012, in the Altadena area of Los Angeles. He had died three days before Etta James, whom he had discovered in the early 1950s. He is interred with his wife at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California.
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George Lucas' first film was 'THX 1138'. It was a total disappointment. Francis Ford Coppola had then told him to make something 'warm and funny', and not 'weird'. So.. he made American Graffiti. His ... View MoreGeorge Lucas' first film was 'THX 1138'. It was a total disappointment. Francis Ford Coppola had then told him to make something 'warm and funny', and not 'weird'. So.. he made American Graffiti. His 'love letter' to the Fifties and his hometown of Modesto.
'American Graffiti' involves the audience. A nice piece of nostalgia. In fact, it was 'American Graffiti' that had paved the way for 'Star Wars'.
Now, you remember the TV show, 'Happy Days' starring Ron Howard, who had also starred in 'American Graffiti'. Since 'Happy Days' had premiered only five months after the release of 'American Graffiti', it is assumed by many to have been a spin off. Not so.
'Happy Days' had originated as a segment in the TV series 'Love American Style'. I've not seen it in years, but if memory serves, it was pretty much the same characters as in the 'Happy Days' TV program, minus Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham.
Lucas has originally wanted to shoot 'American Graffitti' in Modesto.. but the town had changed too much. He had then chose San Rafael, California to represent early 1960's Modesto.
Unfortunately, after only one day of shooting, the city said no. One member of the film crew was arrested for growing Marijuana, and, because of street closures for filming, there were a lot of complaints by those businesses. And so the crew had moved twenty miles North to Petaluma.
In the early 1960's, Wolfman Jack was all over Southern California radio, and was a big part of George Lucas' childhood.
George Lucas himself had chosen what the soundtrack would be, using his sister's 45 RPM record collection from the late 50's and early 60's. Lucas has said that he had written specific scenes to go with specific songs. Now you've really got to love that.
Oh, and at the end of the film, where Bob Falfa finally had opportunity to race John Milner, the local drag racing king, and during the race, Falfa blows a tire and crashes. That's actually based on a true story in Lucas' life.
Growing up in Modesto, George was apparently heavily into the local drag racing scene. During a particular race, Lucas had flipped his car and nearly died. This had prompted him to go to film school instead.
The soundtrack album had sold well over three million copies. It includes 41 or the 43 songs used in the film, arranged on the album in the order they appear in the movie. 'Gee' by the Crows and 'Louie Louie' by Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids are the only two excluded.
Speaking of the soundtrack, noticeably absent.. is Elvis. The reason being, is that Universal had offered and flat rate to all the labels involved. RCA, Elvis' label, had refused. Therefore, no Elvis.
A sequel to the film, 'More American Graffiti', was released in 1979. There were three, double set record albums released.. 'American Graffiti', 'More American Graffiti', and 'American Graffiti Vol. 3'.
Imagine what's being played on those car radios. I like to imagine everything from, The Five Keys to Hank Williams, Little Richard, B.B. King, The Crows, Flamingos, Elvis Presley, Del-Vikings, El Dora... View MoreImagine what's being played on those car radios. I like to imagine everything from, The Five Keys to Hank Williams, Little Richard, B.B. King, The Crows, Flamingos, Elvis Presley, Del-Vikings, El Dorados, Wynonie Harris, Johnny Cash, Etta James, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, The Chords, Moonglows, Everly Brothers...
Man, all that truly wonderful music..being played in this atmosphere, on those old AM car radios. If I could go back in time.. this is where I'd be. And of course, you know what I'd be doing.. I'd be on the air at the local AM (they didn't have FM or Stereo radio back then), spinning those original 45s!
Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Doo Wop, Country & Western, Be Bop.. walk down to the soda fountain for a Cherry Coke. Friday and Saturday nights.. kids cruisin' the streets.. listening to the radio.. stop by the drive-in for a burger basket.. others at the drive-in theatre on the outskirts of town.
Maybe a Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney double feature for the older crowd.. maybe John Wayne. For the younger set.. James Dean in 'The Wild One' backed with 'Rebel Without A Cause'!
Then on Sunday morning, everyone is in a peaceful, solemn atmosphere.. the sound of birds singing, church bells.. everyone getting ready for church. Maybe a picnic afterward... Peace, serenity and contentment.
Dee and Robert, 'Come On On'. From 1965, it's a pretty cool little record. It was also released on HIT Records, which I've always considered to be a budget 'sound-alike' label. I wasn't too sure about... View MoreDee and Robert, 'Come On On'. From 1965, it's a pretty cool little record. It was also released on HIT Records, which I've always considered to be a budget 'sound-alike' label. I wasn't too sure about SPAR until I'd found this one with the 'D.J. Not For Sale' imprint... Always thought of it as a 'sound-a-like' label like HIT.
I honestly don't know much about Dee and Robert, save to say, from what I've gathered, Bobby Russell born in Nashville, April 19, 1941, and was a writer of both Pop and Country songs, and had produced several hit records in the 1960s and 70s.
His first song to make an impact was the 1966 release by Brian Hyland, 'The Joker Went Wild'. Two years later, he had written 'Little Green Apples', a song we're all familiar with, but many of us know it as by L. C. Smith. This, though, was a Country version performed by Rogers Miller!
I need to find a copy of that. I'm curious what that would sound like. It had reached the top ten. L. C. Smith had released a version a bit later, and that's the version that I'm familiar with. Robert's next hit was recorded by Bobby Goldsboro, 'Honey'. That particular single had reached the #1 position on BOTH the Pop AND Country charts.
'Dee', is apparently D. Bergen White, long-time Nashville arranger, producer, conductor, musician, composer and singer, born July 18, 1939 in Miami, Oklahoma. In fact, I had found this record in Southwest Missouri, which is close to Miami, Oklahoma. I used to have family in Miami years ago.
'Dee' is the son of a Baptist music minister, and, in his teenage years, was singing in church choirs led by his father, where White had learned harmony and the rudiments of arranging vocals. 'I don’t even remember learning to read music,' he said. 'It just happened.' The family had moved quite frequently, and when he was fourteen, the family had wound up in Nashville.
While there, White had become friends with classmate Bobby Russell, who himself, had musical aspirations. 'Bobby is responsible for getting me into the music business,' White said... Now, here's where we get to the SPAR and HIT Records association.
White was teaching high school in nearby Fairview, Tennessee, when Russell had recruited him to sing harmony on a session of 'sound-alike' records, which copied the big hits of the day and issued them at a discount price.
Also, in the mid 60s, he had co-written a couple of songs by Jan and Dean, as well as touring and recording with Ronny and The Daytonas. White was also able to release a couple of singles under his own name for the Monument label, and, in 1969, had recorded and released, what has apparently become a cult favorite, 'For Women Only', an album of lush, romantic Pop music. That was for Shelby Singleton's SSS label. It was also reissued in 2004 on CD.
Robert had passed away November 19, 1992, after suffering a heart attack. He was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994. To my knowledge, 'Dee' Bergen White, is still around, and active.
As for SPAR Records, the label was founded in 1961 by record men Alan Bubis and William Beasley. They had been partners in the Tennessee and Republic labels in the 1950s and had eventually gotten into record distribution as well. The SPAR imprint was soon followed by budget labels.
And from what I gather, many of these 'discount' labels had some of Nashville's finest performers on them! The SPAR label had gone out of business in the mid 1970s, but left behind this wonderful legacy of classic Nashville music. They also owned the HIT label.
Saturday afternoon at the movies. How many of you are waxing nostalgic right now? This photo really touches me.
The design of the theatre.. the young kids.. photographed in glorious black and white.... View MoreSaturday afternoon at the movies. How many of you are waxing nostalgic right now? This photo really touches me.
The design of the theatre.. the young kids.. photographed in glorious black and white.. I can almost imagine myself at that age being one of the boys in that line. How about you..?
I'd venture to say.. the movie is probably a Western. Maybe Gene Autry..? Roy Rogers and Trigger..? The Lone Ranger and Tonto..?
I can very well imagine myself in that line at that age. The light smell of greenery in the air.. the feel of being in the shade.. and the gentle aroma of popcorn... That was indeed a very special time.
Too bad we don't have anything like this anymore... Oh, and of course, I love the vintage beauty of Black & White photography.
Remember hearing music over AM radio only..? Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Doo Wop, Country, Big Band, and Crooners.
Just watched my copy of the 1978 movie, 'FM'. It stars Michael Brandon, Martin Mull, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little, and features concert appearances of Linda Ronstadt annd Jimmy Buffett.... View MoreJust watched my copy of the 1978 movie, 'FM'. It stars Michael Brandon, Martin Mull, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little, and features concert appearances of Linda Ronstadt annd Jimmy Buffett.
This is the original VHS tape. It was eventually released on DVD, however, they were all found to have been defective. It has now been reissued on Blue-ray. I have three more copies of this.. never opened. Theme music performed by Steely Dan. One of my favorites.
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