I met Johnny, he was very pleasant and signed my CD's. I saw him at a small club with a 'pick up band' quite clearly, but he was quite entertaining. Nice fella!
You can't go wrong with Gene Vincent or Johnny Tillotson. Here's my favorite song written and recorded by Johnny.
I saw him at Disneyland in Anaheim back in the mid-70's when he was in the middle of his hit run. He had a pretty big band as I recall, a full set of female back-up singers and dressed like Elvis in a white jumpsuit. He put on a fine show, and although he sure did not have Elvis's vocal range, he was a decent singer and a great showman.
I love that song and performance by Johnny, but I also dig Elvis's great remake of it on his stupendous From Elvis In Memphis album.
I was sitting here waiting for the contributions to roll in from supporters here on the Bear Thread, when suddenly, I had a hot flash in my right leg. My pocket was burning. I reached in and pulled my wallet out and almost burned my hand. So I quickly ordered the new Lefty Box from Bullmoose Records. I put an ice pack on the credit card and the room filled with steam. It feels good. Now, all I got is time, and bills to pay.
Now this one is a real get among Bear Family releases! Blair, John - Rumble At Waikiki – The John Blair Anthology (2-CD) - Bear Family US
So, it appears that Bear Family might be entering the "Limited Edition" marketing concept. That seems to go against their traditional model (keep it in print forever if the license allows). That'll Flat Git It Vol 31 was also limited
Aren't ALL releases "limited" in some way? It doesn't say "numbered limited edition" or something similar. If it doesn't sell, there'll be enough copies in stock for years, and if it's a big (and quick) seller, they'll be seriously thinking about manufacturing another run.
Very exciting news! John Blair is great and his group Jon & The Nightriders were extremely enjoyable. Energetic surf bands were largely silenced by dinosaur rock during the 1970s, but the 1980s brought a renewed interest to the genre and Jon & The Nightriders have maintained a devout cult following. The simpleton in me always said their style was something similar to combining the approach of Dick Dale and The Ventures. Their longtime drummer Dusty Watson went on to tour in Dick Dale's band for a number of years. Jon & The Nightriders have been notoriously difficult to locate on CD, Dusty was able to find me a copy of one disc they released about 20 years ago. The spin-off band Slacktone featured both Dusty and Dave Wronski from Jon & The Nightriders and I've seen them perform as well. When I met Dave, I asked him how he had access to so many neat custom Fender guitars and it turned out he was employed by Fender and may still be to this very day. Also, I was glad to hear that John Blair is still living and remains active as an artist. The Ray Campi connection is also very interesting, had no idea Blair's roots were in rockabilly and also bluegrass. Looking at Youtube, it appears as though Jon & The Nightriders have played some reunion shows. Disc: 1 1. Honky Tonk Man 2. Ole Slew Foot 3. I'm Coming Home 4. Don't Get Pushy 5. Rumble At Waikiki 6. Ali Baba 7. Suicide Bay 8. Depth Charge 9. Rumble At Waikiki - Live 10. The Nightrider - Live 11. Star Palace Radio Commercial (poss. Radio Station KKDJ) - Fresno, CA 12. (I Think I'm) Surfing Japanese 13. Splashback! (Medley) -James Bond Theme-Batman-Pipeline-Apache-Walk Don't Run-Wipe Out-Telstar-Peter Gunn Theme-Misirlou-Tequila-Ring Of Fire-Runaway-Red River Valley-High Noon-El Paso-Wheels-Rebel Rouser 14. Charge Of The Nightriders - William Tell Overture 15. Geronimo 16. Storm Dancer 17. Beneath The Reef 18. Thunder Over Rincon - Live 19. Banzai Washout - Live 20. Amor Del Mar 21. Rev-Up! 22. Moon Tide 23. Boogie Board 24. Cabazon 25. Molokai Cocktail 26. Moving Target Disc: 2 1. Bombay Beach/Bombora - Live 2. Moon Cricket - Live 3. Horror Hayride - Live 4. The Force Of Gravity - Live 5. Free Fall 6. Balsa Chica 7. Spookfish - Demo 8. Slipstream - Demo 9. Cat Fight 10. Albufera Stomp 11. Dune Buggy - Live 12. Storm Surf/Wipe Out (Coda) - Live 13. Vaquero 14. Indian Nation 15. Adventures In Paradise 16. Clink Clink Classic 17. Panic Button 18. Gandy Dancer 19. March Of The Fiberglass Soldiers 20. Blue Fire 21. Amor Del Mar 22. Find Me A Golden Street 23. Almost Paradise 24. Evermore 25. Bulldog 26. Come Softly To Me - Coda
Mr. Blair wrote the liner notes ("June 2018") in the 64-page booklet. And the last two tracks are from 2017 (from the 10th Annual Surf Guitar Convention, Alpine Village, California).
I don't have the numbers but not the ones we would expect. Probably something like the "Bonanza" or the "Insulaner" boxes.
I would assume Jim Reeves' Welcome To My World would fall easily into Bear Family's top ten best selling box sets ever.
I would actually think the opposite, just because it's so big and expensive. I would only expect total hardcore Jim Reeves fans to want to splash out for it.
You could very well be right, but it definitely sold out completely on its initial run and perhaps a second printing as it is only available on the secondary market and at even higher prices now than when it was originally issued.
The fact that they had earlier issued a 4CD Jim Reeves box with the absolute cream of his recordings probably discouraged many potential buyers of the 16 CD box, especially at well over $300 from most dealers. The fact that a pressing sold out does not mean it sold the most. However, Jim Reeves is certainly among the most popular artists worldwide that Bear Family has covered.
Amazon has the new Bear Family halloween compilation "The Shadow Knows" for $9.69. https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Knows-Various-Artists/dp/B07G22MQN2/
Ordered Eddie Cletro's Flying Saucer Boogie today. I'd held off because I already have many of the other artists' tracks on which he's featured, but most of the dozen-or-so songs under his own name seem pretty solid as well.
