Saturday, September 6, 2008

JERRY REED - YOUR MONEY MAKES YOU PURTY


We lost Jerry Reed not too long ago. It makes me very depressed because I thought he was an extremely talented individual who for some reason always seemed to put the amount of money he would make, ahead of the quality of product he would produce, which resulted in some records being not nearly as good as some others, and some movies also being not as good as others. Anyhow, Jerry Reed Hubbard started his recording career way back in 1957, and it continued all the way until earlier this year, when the effects of emphysema were taking their toll. Along the way, he recorded with a King, acted with a Bandit, and managed to be married to the same person for 49 years, a rarety for anyone these days, let alone someone in showbusiness. I have no idea if Jerry smoked, or just performed regularly in smoke filled bars or whatnot, but whatever the case, the end result is so tragic because it could probably have been avoided entirely. I remember hearing about his massive heart attack in the late 90's that almost took his life, and the multiple bypass operation he had to have done afterwards, that ultimately had saved his life. At the time, i had wondered why he was in such bad shape for being such a young guy, and now I find myself asking the same question. Why? I'm personally a strong advocate against public smoking (if you want to do it, do it somewhere where people won't be breathing it in regularly), and I can't help but wonder if he would still be alive if there weren't people smoking in the various places he's performed over the last 5 decades. Unfortunately, what's done is done, and all that we have left is his massive body of work in relation to both singing and acting, good and bad. Today I bring you a 1958 record by Jerry that seems rather funny, since it has a slight hint of truth to it. Here's Jerry Reed doing the song Your Money Makes You Purty.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

THE RONDELS - HEY BO DIDDLEY


Hello world...... miss me? Well, this is what happens when I go on vacation. I lose track of my blog immediately as a rock and roll legend passes away and then get busy enough to not be able to post something for several weeks. Well, it's time to change that.

Today I bring you a record by the Rondels. Yeah, you remember their big record (the #61 charting Back Beat No. 1 on Amy Records). I know this because the flip side of this release is written by L. Petze and N. Lateo, one of whom was a member of the group. The group was comprised of Ray Pizzi on sax, Jimmy Petze on bass guitar, Lenny Petze on lead guitar, and Lenny Collins on drums.
This record is largely ignored and is never mentioned in the group's discographies, but it's clearly the same group, and it's time it gets some recognition. Now, I know little to nothing about the release of this 45. I'm assuming it is either from 1962 or 1963, as their last AMY label single came out in 1962. I know the record was pressed at the Shelley Products LTD. plant because the labels are not glued to the labels very well and could easily come detached from the record. If anyone out there has any more information on this record, I would love to hear from you.
Until then, sit back, turn your speakers to full volume, and let the Rondels shake your walls with their version of Hey Bo Diddley!

Monday, May 19, 2008

THE MADISONS - LOOKING FOR TRUE LOVE


What a great record, and completely overlooked in the history of music. The first mistake was putting this little slice of heaven on the B side of the 45. This wasn't the only time this mistake happened to this group, either.... what a shame, because their sound is just spectacular. Bob Crewe knew it, Larry Santos wrote Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. Here he is one year later with his group the Madisons, with another tune that could've been a contendor for the Four Seasons to record. The Four Seasons even backed up Larry on two 45s he cut for Atlantic, one as a solo artist and one as Larry And The Legends, in 1964.

Now, most people do know and like the top side of this 45, Cheryl Anne, and it's a decent track, but the flip side here just blows it away. I just wish I knew more information on this group. They had a few more singles in 1964 and 1965, then Larry Santos broke out on his own and had some solo success a decade later (he had one top 40 solo record and even appeared on American Bandstand on the same episode that had Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart on it, however i've been unable to find any current information on him either. Larry doesn't seem to have recorded anything since 1982. Larry, where are you? Who were the Madisons? Inquiring minds want to know...


Saturday, May 3, 2008

SON'S OF THE KEYSTONE KOPS - I LAUGHED YOU CRIED


Dig this record.... it was released in January 1969, based on the Monarch pressing plant matrix numbers, and was the B side of the record! If this had been issued 2 years earlier on a major record label as the A side, i have no doubt it could've seen some chart action. I know absolutely nothing about this group/record/label at all, but based on the release number (#1003), i'll assume this is not the first record issued on PUBLIC! Records.

Some internet searching tells me that this song was written by John L. Colonna, Stanley Clements, Robert Lee Smith, and Laurie Ruth Cazden. Robert Lee Smith has several songs listed at ASCAP, and although he wrote the "A" side of this single (Chain Gang Man) with Bob Durfee, it is not listed on ASCAP. This record was also produced by John Colonna and Stanley Clements, which may also be why the songs were published by Jay-Stan Music. I would love to have more information on the group members, this record label, etc if anyone out there can help supply me with any. Until then, sit back and enjoy the music!


Sunday, April 13, 2008

THE BOYS NEXT DOOR - MANDY

I can't remember how i first discovered this tune, but I know that I loved it immediately. And why not? This group from Indianapolis, Indiana, which had some earlier releases under the name the Four Wheels, was more or less seen as the Beach Boys of the Midwest. They even opened for the Beach Boys several times when they came to Indianapolis. They also performed on tours with Bobby Goldsboro, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Herman's Hermits. Between 1964 and 1967, they released several 45s as both the Four Wheels and The Boys Next Door. They eventually split after lead singer and guitarist Steve Lester decided he wanted to move to the west coast and become a session musician in the psychedelia music scene, while drummer Jim Koss and keyboardist Skeet Bushor wanted to perform R&B music.

The group's music remained relatively unknown outside of Indiana, despite having several national releases under both of their performing names, the Boys Next Door and the Four Wheels. It also didn't hurt that this record in particular was produced by Bright Tunes Productions, which was the Tokens' production company. This record definitely should've been a big record nationwide, but it seems that it's been all but forgotten, especially with its only cd release being an out of print Boys Next Door compilation from Sundazed. Perhaps some enterprising record executive will see and hear this blog and get this song out to the public again? Only time will tell...


Sunday, April 6, 2008

LINDA BRANNON - DON'T CROSS OVER (TO MY SIDE OF THE STREET)

This record is one I have enjoyed quite a bit. In fact, both sides of it are great. This side is the one that made it to #115 on Billboard (and judging by the x's on the label was the one that the radio staion it was sent to had picked to become the hit), but it was originally slated to be the B side of the record. The flipside, a song called Don't Separate Us, is more of an uptempo pop song, while this side has sort of a country feel to it. Of course, the record was produced by legendary country music producer Jerry Kennedy, which accounts for the country feel of this side. It didn't hurt that Jerry Kennedy was also Linda Brannon's husband.
However, I think the flip side would've been better plugged to top 40 radio stations while this side should've been left to a popular country singer to record. After listening to this a few times, I could easily picture Skeeter Davis doing a version of this song, however she never did record it. Curiously, Madeline Bell did record a version of it in 1967, which has more of a pop sound to it, but to me it will always sound like a country pop record no matter who is performing it. Perhaps somewhere down the line, I will end up spotlighting the flip side of this disc. Neither side seems to have been reissued anywhere, which is a shame. If any record company execs read this, put these sides out on cd!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

BOBBY HEBB - SOME KIND OF MAGIC


What a great record this is! I discovered it on the B side of his non-charting "I Love Everything About You," which was his 5th of 7 singles released on the Philips label. 9 of the 14 songs that made it to Philips label singles were never part of Bobby's only LP for the label, this tune included. It certainly deserved more of a chance, in my opinion. Jerry Butler first recorded the song on his 1966 lp called Soul Artistry, but it's very possible that Bobby's had been recorded first, and held off as being a single release, finally making it out in 1967.
If you dig this record, go out and find a copy or six of it, send emails to Universal music and demand that they finally put it out on cd, and if it ever gets a legitimate reissue, go pick up a copy of whatever it appears on, and buy copies for all of your friends. This one is too good to pass up. If you dig this tune as much as I do, you may find yourself playing it over and over many times (which is not really all that good for a polystyrene 45...).

Thursday, April 3, 2008

THE BLEUS - WONDER WHERE THE MELLOW WENT

The Bleus were formed in Gadsden, Alabama in 1965. The members during this time were Tony Lumpkin, Larry Sivley, Paul Smith, Terry Moore, Cliff Blackwood and Dana Loconto. Their first major break came when they won a Battle of the Bands contest, beating out an up and coming band called Hourglass, which would soon become the Allman Brothers band.
Their second release, I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, was released on the Amy record label and was the first of two releases for the label. Wonder Where The Mellow Went is the flip side of this release. A couple of releases later, they found themselves signed to the Diamond record label for one single, before the label was purchased by the Certron corporation, where they appeared on one more release, credited to the Electric Hand Band.
The band broke up in 1971 but reformed 30 years later with band members Lumpkin, Sivley, Smith, Moore, Loconto, and Bobby Sproul (who replaced Cliff Blackwood in 1968). The band has since split up again and the band members I have tried to contact never responded to my messages. Fortunately some bands have a lot of information available on the internet, such as with this band, and others, like my first blog posting, will have none whatsoever. I will, however, post whatever I can find about any given band, but will welcome additions or corrections, especially if they come from the original artists themselves. Sit back and enjoy this great slice of pop music from 1968, Wonder Where The Mellow Went.

THE BACK ALLEY - WHEN I GET HOME


The purpose of this blog is to allow me to share whatever 45 in my collection is getting heavy rotation on my turntable at any given time. This means I could add one a day, or one a month...
The 45 currently getting a bit of play from my record collection currently is this interesting cover of the Beatles' tune, When I Get Home, done by the Back Alley on Date records from 1968. This appears to be their only release, and I know nothing about the band (as will probably be the case with most records I post to this blog). This group may have been channeling Vanilla Fudge while recording this tune....it's easy to imagine, if you forget that it is actually a Beatles song. The B side of this record is a tune called Soda Pop Man, which has been comped onto a couple of albums, The Bottomless Pit Volume 1 and Sir Psych Presents: Volume 5.