Let's Talk "Classic American Rock 'n' Roll" 1951 - 1963! Share Your Knowledge And Love of The Music.

a song, the B-side of "Having a Party", that retained the gospel flavour of the
original and added the call-and-response format (with an uncredited
Lou Rawls as the second voice) that was the first serious nod to his gospel
roots:

"Bring It on Home to Me" - Sam Cooke 1962.

 

Written in the mid-1950s by Robert Spencer of the doo-wop group The
Cadillacs (of "Speedo" fame) , with the title "My Girl Lollypop", and
recorded before Millie Small's hit version in 1964, there was...

"My Boy Lollypop" - Barbie Gaye, 1956.

 

I never cared for the Millie Small version, glad to hear this, thanks.

 

For too long, I've mistakenly thought that this cover of a song first
recorded by Elvis Presley was Brenda Lee:

"Let's Have a Party" - Wanda Jackson, 1960.

 

Written by Margo Sylvia & Gilbert Lopez, who were both members of this
group at the time, it was their only hit. The single went to Number 4 on
the R&B chart and Number Five on the Billboard Hot 100:

"Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" - The Tune Weavers 1957.

 

I once saw a WJ Greatest Hits in a used CD shop and have regretted not buying it ever since.

 

I hope someone has already mentioned The Fleetwoods.

 

I really love Doo-Wop and especially records with a crazy bass singer. This one ca. '63 is the craziest. It was on a tiny label (Bargain), but there's another version (!) that came out on Phillips (!!) called Heartbeat by The Whirlwinds.

 

Formed in 1955 in Detroit MI and at the time featuring members Eddie Floyd,
Mack Rice and Robert Ward, it was the co-author of this group's second hit
whose lyrics in the coda included...
Wait a minute, there's one thing I wanna say right here
The way the woman walk, she set my little soul on fire
The way she talk, she my heart desire
And, oh, if you leave me, I figured I would die
If sometime I would call her in the midnight hour
Don't leave me baby
...

"I Found a Love" - The Falcons, with Wilson Pickett on lead vocal, 1962.

 

"Bluebirds Over the Mountain" - Ersel Hickey, 1958.

From Rick Falkowski’s fine read, History of Buffalo Music & Entertainment: A Nostalgic Journey into Buffalo New York's Musical Heritage, p. 130 - 131:
After an Everly Brothers concert, Ersel Hickey met Phil Everly and told him he wanted to be a singer, Everly replied “Well, you got to have a song” So Ersel went home and wrote “Bluebirds Over the Mountain”, which was the first song from a Buffalo rock ’n’ roll artist to reach the national charts. In 1958, it peaked at #74 on the Billboard charts and was later covered by The Beach Boys. Ersel’s version of the song at one minute 24 seconds in length, was the shortest Top 100 hit in history.
Self-promotion was one of the keys to Ersel’s success. Next door and upstairs to Jan’s, a popular music club at 621 Main Street, was Gene Laverne’s “Studio pf the Stars”. This was a photography studio that specialized in photos for burlesque dancers, where his sister had her promotion photos taken. Wearing his trademark look: a black tie, white shirt, reddish/orange jacket with yellow lining and rust colored pants with stitching down the sides, he had his promo photo taken at the studio. Even though the photo was in black and white, it became one of the most iconic photos of rock ’n’ roll and was considered to best exemplify the look and attitude of 1950s performers. It was used as the opening page photo of Rolling Stone magazines 1976 Illustrated History of Rock & Roll.
Wearing his trademark outfit, he went to the Towne Casino and because of how Hickey looked, the manager put him on stage during a Sam Cooke show. The crowd loved him. The next day he was put on the bill at the Glen Casino , where Cab Calloway was headlining; once again he was a success. Photographer Gene Laverne suggested that Ersel should sign a management contract with Mike Corda, a Buffalo bass player. Corda liked the song “Bluebirds Over the Mountain”, so he paid for and played on a demo of the song, recorded in the National Studio in NYC. While Ersel was making personal appearances in Buffalo, Corda was in NYC plugging the song. Epic Records released the demo as a single and signed Ersel to a contract. The next thing Ersel knew, he was appearing on American Bandstand and touring across the country.
Ersel Hickey was not a one hit wonder. He wrote songs recorded by other artists, including “Don’t Let the Rain Come Down” which was a top-10 single by The Serendipity Singers in 1964. He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and continued recording and making personal appearances until just prior to his death at age 70 in 2004.



Ersel Hickey.
Image: Gene Laverne.

I did verify that this is the photo in question in the Rolling Stone book.
Regarding the apparel worn for the photo shoot, it appears that Falkowski has misremembered.
More on the life of Mr. Hickey from rockabilly hall dot com and wikipedia dot com.

 

Seeing the thread, People Who Keep Starting Posts With The Word "Ya.",
in General Discussion immediately made me think of one person and one
person only, which led me to look up his discography which led me to...

"Rock" - Lee Dorsey & His Ya Ya Band, 1959.

 

His third single and first and only Number One hit:

"Quarter to Three" - Gary U.S. Bonds, 1961.
For decades, I always wondered... Who is this "Daddy G" (this one and
not the one from Massive Attack) and why are people singing about him?
Thanks to The Interwebs™, with something here and something here,
I now have the answer.

 

"A Night With Daddy G (Part 1 & 2) - The Church Street Five, 1961.

 

one of my favourites from 1960:

 

This is my fave Gary U.S. Bonds track:

 

This is a pretty darn good song from 1963 by a band with a lousy name -

Misty and the Do-Drops, Answer Me My Love:



Produced by Johnny Rivers by the way!

 

1963 was the first outstanding year for pop music IMHO and one of its best songs was the elegiac Losing You by Brenda Lee:

 

During my current re-read of Jimmy McDonugh's brilliant bio, Shakey: A Neil Young Biography, I found this quote from Mr. Young on p. 52:
"Bop-A-lena". Ronnie Self - he was a screamer, wasn't he? The energy was so focused, so real... that really appealed to me. "Bop-a-lena" was just hairy. F-----' out there. "Scoobedoobee go gal, go. Bop-A-lena" - you just... wow! I can't remember anything else about it, except this guy's voice - Ronnie Self, he was f-----' hammerin' it. I wonder what he looks like like today. Find Ronnie Self! Now there's a story worth tellin'.*

"Bop-A-lena" - Ronnie Self, recorded in 1957 an released in 1958.

* Wild man Ronnie Self - aka Mr. Frantic - was born in Missouri in 1938. "Bop-A-lena" was a number sixty-three hit in 1958, and he then wrote both "Sweet Nuthin's" and "I'm sorry"
for Brenda Lee. In and out of jail, married to the same woman three times, Self - according to writer Randy McNutt - "sank into personal troubles and frustration" in Nashville, and at one point "burned his gold records in front of the BMI office." He died in August 1981 at the age of forty-three.

 

Ronnie Self was one of the few who could hold his own against Little Richard.

 

How about Mr Eddie Cochran!

 

I heard this great song the other day on 1440AM WJJL Niagara Falls NY.
Born James Louis McCleese, this was the second of his two single releases,
with both being cast-offs by Gary U.S. Bonds. The first was "Twistin' Matilda"
in 1962. The other was a Billboard Hot 100 Number One hit and was based on
the song "Ugly Woman" by Roaring Lion recorded in 1933:

"If You Wanna Be Happy" - Jimmy Soul, 1963.
Yes, I still have my original copy of the 45!

 

* Wild man Ronnie Self - aka Mr. Frantic - was born in Missouri in 1938. "Bop-A-lena" was a number sixty-three hit in 1958, and he then wrote both "Sweet Nuthin's" and "I'm sorry"
for Brenda Lee. In and out of jail, married to the same woman three times, Self - according to writer Randy McNutt - "sank into personal troubles and frustration" in Nashville, and at one point "burned his gold records in front of the BMI office." He died in August 1981 at the age of forty-three.[/QUOTE]
worth reposting because Neil is right, this is one seriously off the chain record, focused yet insanely wild, rockabilly at its best. Own it. 1000 mph rockabilly.

 

worth reposting because Neil is right, this is one seriously off the chain record, focused yet insanely wild, rockabilly at its best. Own it. 1000 mph rockabilly.[/QUOTE]
Ronnald Keith "Ronnie" Self.

 

The story goes that the producer made him stand in the box to keep him from jumping around while he sang.

 

I see there is an Original Albums set from Ronnie Hawkins. I'm very tempted.