Spread The Good Word !

A good start for this week … Don & Dewey !!! !!! The R&B duo of Don "Sugarcane" Harris (vocals, guitar, piano, electric violin) and Dewey Terry (vocals, guitar, piano) plied their trade in the late 1950s. They were both born in 1938 and raised in Pasadena, CA. They cut numerous blistering rockers for Specialty from 1957 to 1959 without registering a single hit, only to see other acts revive their songs to much greater acclaim.. Their Specialty output included the savage rockers "Jungle Hop," "Koko Joe" (written by Sonny Bono), and "Justine," the latter pair later covered by The Righteous Brothers. Don "Sugarcane" Harris laid down his guitar for a violin during the '60s and sawed his rocked-out fiddle beside John Mayall and Frank Zappa. Don And Dewey - Jungle Hop Don And Dewey - Baby Gotta Party

I really wanted to play "I Hate People" this morning, but I'll try to stay zen and cool...so bring me the whip and let's talk about Frankie. Frankie Laine was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1950s, swinging jazz standards as well as half a dozen Western movie themes of the time with his manly baritone. Born in Chicago in 1913, Frankie Laine sang in the local church choir and first performed professionally at the age of 15. Frankie Laine's Columbia career saw him move toward husky country & western pop with arrangements and orchestra conduction by Mitch Miller . Laine really found his niche with themes/soundtracks, scoring big with "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), "The 3:10 to Yuma" (1957), "The Hanging Tree"(1959), "Blazing Saddles"(1974) and the song he is most associated with in Western circles today, "Rawhide," recorded in 1959.. Almost 90 years of bein' around. And you can hear it in his ...

Sonia Wieder Atherton & Daria Hovora - Psalmodie Paul Robeson - Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (Back to rock'n'roll tomorrow, thanx)

The Jacks/Cadets came together as a gospel group in 1947, and by the time they were signed to Modern in 1955. They were versatile in R&B, jump tunes, ballads, calypso songs, and recorded some of the greatest early rock & roll songs ever, including "Stranded in the Jungle" (released in June of 1956, and charting at number four R&B/number 15 pop). Mostly, though, the Jacks are remembered for recording under two names simultaneously: as the Jacks (for Modern) and the Cadets (for RPM) (The Jacks as a ballad harmony group utilizing the writing talents of Aaron Collins and the Cadets as an up-tempo and novelty song quintet who mostly covered other acts' material). The Jacks-Cadets - Stranded In The Jungle The Jacks-Cadets - Love Bandit

Ok, here’s the man who wrote Little Willie John 's "Fever," Elvis The Pelvis ' "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up," Jerry Lee Lewis ' "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless," and Jimmy Jones ' "Handy Man" (just for starters). Otis Blackwell 's songwriting style is as identifiable as that of Willie Dixon or Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . He helped formulate the musical vocabulary of rock & roll when the genre was barely breathing on its own. As a lad growing up in Brooklyn, he dug the Westerns that his favorite nearby cinema screened. At that point, Tex Ritter was Otis Blackwell's main man. By 1952, Blackwell parlayed a victory at an Apollo Theater talent show into a recording deal with veteran producer Joe Davis for RCA, switching to Davis' own Jay-Dee logo the next year. He was fairly prolific at Jay-Dee, enjoying success with the throbbing "Daddy Rollin' Stone" (later cover...

Michael Z. Gordon formed the Marketts in 1961 and went into the studio in 1964 with an idea for a song based on the "Twilight Zone" theme. The Marketts recorded their first national hit song, "Out Of Limits", which went to #1 in the country in Cash Box magazine (don’t ask me where I found it please) and earned him his first BMI award for instrumental of the year. The Marketts had one more chart record, the well-known "Batman Theme" from the movie and appeared in several motion pictures and television shows. The Marketts - Out Of Limits The Marketts - Vanishing Point

Delores Williams was born on November 11, 1929, in Chicago. Williams began her career with Fletcher Henderson 's big band in 1947. She adopted the stage name Lavern Baker shortly afterwards. In 1953, Baked signed with Atlantic rcords . In 1955, LaVern had her first hit with "Tweedle Dee." Other hits, including "Jim Dandy" and "See See Rider," followed. Simply put, LaVern Baker, one of the greatest vocalists in history, could sing anything because she had a stunning voice that with little effort could crack walls, and yet her ballad singing was wonderfully sensitive. Lavern Baker - Voodoo Voodoo Lavern Baker - Saved And here is something for the weekend... To Brother Freeze : If you're in a small village (south of France for example) and you hear that song, don't forget to scream & run, it may save your life ! (Paul Whiteman Bio) Paul Whiteman and his Swing Wing (with Jack Teagarden) - Jeepers Creepers Oh and thanx to all of you for the comm...

The historical importance of The Wailers is undeniable. They were one of the very first, if not the first, of the American garage bands. And their stomping, hard-nosed R&B/rock fusion inspired the Sonics, who took the Wailers' raunch to unimaginable extremes... The Wailers- Dirty Robber (7" Version) The Wailers- Dirty Robber (Lp Version)

Robert Calvin Bland was born on January 27, 1930 in the small town of Rosemark, Tennessee. He first sang with a Gospel group called The Miniatures and then he moved on to a Blues group that was called the Beale Streeters. This group included such legends as B.B. King , Junior Parker, Johnny Ace, and Rosco Gordon . Bobby ‘ Blue’ Bland didn't play any instruments or write any music, but what he brought to the songs made it his own all the way ! Bobby 'Blue' Bland - Yield Not To Temptation Bobby 'Blue' Bland - Turn On Your Love Light

A strong vocalist and excellent songwriter, Isaiah « Doctor » Ross (not ER or Friends please) gained early experience playing Delta jukes and eventually landed radio shows in Clarksdale and Memphis, where he also recorded for Sam Phillips's Sun label. At the peak of Ross's career, he quit Sun, concerned that his royalties were being used to promote Elvis Presley's recordings. Ross died May 28, 1993. "I'm kind of like the little boy from the West, I'm different from the rest." Doctor Ross. Doctor Ross - Boogie Disease Doctor Ross - My Bebop Gal

Uh huh huh ooo ooo ooo ! In 1957, thanks to his job on the Autry show, Johnny Western started his career as an actor. Johnny has appeared in 37 features and western TV series. After an acting appearance on the CBS-TV series, "Have Gun-Will Travel," Johnny wrote and sang the theme song, "The Ballad of Paladin." He wrote the song as a musical thank you card to star, Richard Boone, for the way Boone helped him on the show in all their scenes together. Anyway, the turning point in his life came on his fifth birthday, when his parents took him to see a 1936 Western called Guns and Guitars starring Gene Autry ; Well, I saw King Kong at the same age. Dammit. Johnny Western - Cowpoke Johnny Western - The Ballad Of Palladin

The Ready Men were a garage surf combo from Minneapolis, who have been legendary ever since their rabid version of "Shortnin' Bread" emerged on "Surfin In The Midwest Volume One". Raw primal surf music, you just can't get enough of it... See you next week folks ! The Ready Men - Shortnin' Bread The Ready Men - Disintegration

I must admit, I'm in a rockabilly mood today ! The rockabilly style evolved out of post-war country-boogie, hillbilly, and rhythm & blues. Between 1945 and 1954 these disparate musical styles crossed paths and developed the hybrid known as rockabilly...simple isn't it? Marlon "Madman"Mitchell & The Rocketeers - Ice Cold Baby Junior Thompson - Raw Deal H. Taylor & The Rhythm Blue Boys - Mixed Up Rhythm & Blues

Evelyn Freeman worked as a director and arranger for husband Tommy Roberts on all solo appearances, for Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Duane Eddy, Frankie Laine…She composed, arranged and orchestrated several records albums, including the world-wide hit album « Didn’t it rain ». In two words, this song is a real killer, not to be missed. Evelyn Freeman - Didn't It Rain

Take the blood out of an alligator, Take the left eye of a fish, Take the skin off of a frog, And mix it up in a dish Add a cup of grease swamp water And then countin' one to nine Spit over your left shoulder And you got alligator wine Alligator wine ,Your porcupine Is gonna make you mine, oh yeah. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins , 1929-2000 Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You Screamin' Jay Hawkins - There's Something Wrong With You

A good one to start this week ! A true rock & roll primitive even wilder than cult legend Hasil Adkins, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy played a crude brand of rockabilly obsessed with the Wild West and science fiction, and filled with vocal effects ranging from rebel yells and war whoops to a startling array of animal noises. By the way, his real name is Norman Carl Odam and he was born in 1947, Lubbock, Texas. Love this guy. The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Rock It To Stardom And a special message from my good friend Little Richard is waiting for you… Little Richard - Gene Nobles' Royal Crown Hairdressing

Yep, that's me One of my all-time favorite ! Hank Thompson is perhaps the most popular Western swing musician of the '50s and '60s, keeping the style alive with a top-notch band, tremendous showmanship, and a versatility that allowed him to expand his repertoire into romantic ballads and hardcore honky tonk numbers. I don’t know why, but I really need a whiskey while listening to this song . For God’s Sake. See you next week, have a good one! Hank Thompson - I Cast A Lonesome Shadow

I’m tellin’ you, the man is a genius. Dave Bartholomew is the multi-talented figure behind a majority of classic New Orleans R&B of the '50s and the self-proclaimed inventor of the "Big Beat." Bartholomew has over 4000 songs in his enormous catalog and is responsible for arranging and producing timeless records by Shirley & Lee, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, and especially Fats Domino. Bartholomew led his first studio session under his own name in 1947 for Deluxe, but the label went out of business shortly thereafter and the sessions went unnoticed. In 1949, Bartholomew met Lew Chudd who was forming a new label, Imperial Records .Chudd hired Bartholomew as house arranger, bandleader, and talent scout, and he immediately started cranking out numerous hits through the '50s for Fats Domino, Shirley & Lee, Smiley Lewis, Earl King, Chris Kenner, Tommy Ridgley, Frankie Ford, Robert Parker, and a host of others. Dave Bartholomew – My Ding-A-Ling Oh and here’s someth...

He was born Rudolph Spencer Greene and is often listed incorrectly on liner notes as Rudy Greene. Although neither a prolific nor famous blues artist, he is an artist who is often listed on liner notes, period. These albums are usually compilations of certain types of blues, early rock, or R&B with a focus on the rowdy, for this is the type of record that Greene apparently excelled at. Compilations that claim to be "stomping," "screaming and frantic," "jumping and jiving," or contain just plain "too much rocking" all have tracks by this artist, whose most-famous songs include the hilarious "I Want a Bowlegged Woman" and the surreal "Juicy Fruit." The latter track alone shows up on a handful of different early rock and regional label compilations, complete with the lyric "I got a car so long I park it in the air." Greene's work inhabits that netherworld somewhere between blues and rock, and he is even sometime...

First of all, a big shout to bigrockcandymountain and fire of love , keep up the good work partners.... AND TODAY THE WINNER IS...PAPAAAA LIGHTFOOOOOOOT !!!(applause) Damn me, I have to quote Wand Dang Dula Again...here we go: « Alexander alias George "Papa" Lightfoot was born in Natchez, Mississippi, in March of 1924. This absolutely rough-sounding blues-harpist, washboardist, radio DJ and entertainer started playing in the late 1940's with a group called the Gondoliers, recorded for Aladdin, Sultan, Peacock, King, Imperial and Excello labels, and toured with stars like Champion Jack Dupree, Fats Domino, Dinah Washington, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Smiley Lewis all through the 1950's. Papa also appeared in the obscure fifties short film "Spooky Loot", but even tho' he didn't became a star himself. In the late 1960's he came back in the spotlights, and recorded maybe the rudest delta-blues album that has ever been done. Unfortunately, in 1970, s...

Tarheel Slim made his official entrance in 1958 with his wife, now dubbed Little Ann, in a duet format for Robinson's Fire imprint ("It's Too Late," "Much Too Late"). Then old Tarheel came out of the gate like his pants were on fire with a pair of rockabilly raveups of his own, "Wilcat Tamer" and "No. 9 Train," with Jimmy Spruill on blazing lead guitar. After a few years off the scene, Tarheel Slim made a bit of a comeback during the early '70s, with an album for Pete Lowry's Trix logo that harked back to Bunn's Carolina blues heritage. It would prove his last. Tarheel Slim - Number Nine Train

My best wishes to you all for this brand new fuckin' year (hope it's gonna be better anyway...) See you next week. And here is my "Top 5 Thoughts" for 2005... 1. Number Nine - Feel Like Going Home 2. Tom Waits - Everything You Can Think Of It Is True 3. Blind Willie Johnson - Nobody's Fault But Mine 4. Ramones - I Don't Want To Grow Up 5. Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come