Rock Roots

Today in Rock Roots History – July 7

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:59:19 +0000

On this date in 1860, Austrian Composer, Gustav Mahler was born
On this date in 1913, American Blues Pianist and Singer, Pinetop Perkins was born
On this date in 1924, American Singer and Guitarist, Mary Ford was born
On this date in 1927, American Country Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist, Charlie Louvin of The Louvin Brothers was born
On this date in 1927, American Jazz Trumpeter and Composer, Doc Severinsen was born
On this date in 1930, American Saxophonist, Hank Mobley was born
On this date in 1940, British Drummer, Singer and Actor, Ringo Starr of The Beatles was born
On this date in 1947, British Drummer, Rob Townsend of Family was born
On this date in 1949, American Jazz Trumpeter, Bunk Johnson died
On this date in 1954, Elvis Presley had his radio debut when WHBQ in Memphis, Tennessee played his Sun Studios recording of “That’s Alright”
On this date in 2001, American Folk Singer and Songwriter, Fred Neil died
On this date in 2006, British Singer, Songwriter and guitarist, Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd died

Happy Birthday, Ringo Starr

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:59:12 +0000

Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr, the accidental Beatle turned 71 today. It is tough for me to think about the Beatles in their 70s – hell, I had a hard time thinking of Paul McCartney at 64. But here it is, the oldest Beatle is 71.

Born Richard Starkey to Elsie (née Gleave) and Richard Starkey, a confectioner in Liverpool, England. Ringo had the good fortune to know The Beatles at a time when they needed to replace Pete Best as their drummer, and although he was relegated to playing tambourine during his first recording session with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Ringo would go on to become the lovable one, the cuddly one and he played the sad sack persona to the hilt.

Here’s some Ringo tunes!

I WANNA BE YOUR MAN

OCTOPUS’S GARDEN

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

IT DON’T COME EASY

THE NO NO SONG

EARLY 1970

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Very Best Of (MP3 Download)

New From:	$9.49 In Stock
Release date August 28, 2007.

Ronnie Self

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:38:00 +0000

Ronnie Self

Ronnie Self (July 5, 1938 – August 28, 1981) was a United States rockabilly singer and songwriter. His solo career was unsuccessful, despite being signed to contracts with Columbia and then Decca from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. His only charted single was “Bop-A-Lena”; recorded in 1957 and released in 1958, it reached #68 on the Billboard charts. His boastful country anthem “Ain’t I’m a Dog” was a regional hit in the South, but failed to score nationally.

Rumored to be the first Rock N Roll singer signed to Columbia despite the objections of the Columbia A&R performer Mitch Miller.

A talented performer and songwriter, Self’s career was blighted by his severe alcoholism and erratic behavior, including incidents of violence. However, Brenda Lee’s cover of his songs “I’m Sorry” and “Sweet Nothin’s” became major pop classics and his country gospel song “Ain’t That Beautiful Singing”, recorded by Jake Hess, was awarded a Grammy for Best Sacred Performance in 1969. He died in Springfield, Missouri.

AIN’T I’M A DOG

BIG TOWN

BOP-A-LENA

BIG BLON’ BABY

BIG FOOL

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Rockabilly Classics (MP3 Download)

New From:	$8.99 In Stock
Release date January 1, 2011.

Today in Rock Roots History – July 6

admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:15:53 +0000

On this date in 1925, American Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Television host and Media Mogul, Merv Griffin was born
On this date in 1925, American Singer and Musician, Bill Haley of Bill Haley and His Comets was born
On this date in 1931, American Singer, Actress and Ordained Minister, Della Reese was born
On this date in 1937, American R&B and Soul Singer, Songwriter, Producer and Record Executive, Gene Chandler was born
On this date in 1939, British Bassist, Jet Harris of The Shadows was born
On this date in 1940, American Country Singer, Songwriter and Actress, Jeannie Seely was born
On this date in 1949, American Singer, Songwriter and Actress, Phyllis Hyman was born
On this date in 1957, future Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon were introduced during a performance by Lennon’s band, the Quarrymen, at the St. Peter’s Church Hall fête in Woolton, Liverpool
On this date in 1971, American Trumpeter, Singer and Actor, Louis Armstrong died
On this date in 1979, American Musician, Music producer, Arranger, Songwriter, and Orchestra Conductor, Van McCoy died
On this date in 1998, American Singer, Actor, Cowboy and Icon, Roy Rogers of the Sons of The Pioneers died
On this date in 2004, American Soul and R&B Singer and Songwriter, Syreeta Wright died
On this date in 2008, American Jazz Drummer, Bobby Durham died
On this date in 2009, British Folk Singer and Musician, Johnny Collins died

Today in Rock Roots History – July 5

admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:45:20 +0000

On this date in 1913, American R&B Musician, Singer, and Songwriter, Smiley Lewis was born
On this date in 1938, American Rockabilly Singer and Songwriter, Ronnie Self was born
On this date in 1943, Canadian Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist, Robbie Robertson of The Band was born
On this date in 1950, American Musician, Singer, Songwriter and Actor, Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News was born
On this date in 1954, American Guitarist, Jimmy Crespo of Aerosmith was born
On this date in 1959, American Folk-Rock Singer, Songwriter and Musician, Marc Cohn was born
On this date in 1997, American “Singer”, Mrs. Miller, died
On this date in 2001, American R&B Singer, Ernie K-Doe died
On this date in 2005, American R&B Singer, Shirley Goodman of Shirley and Lee died
On this date in 2007, British Jazz and Blues Singer, Critic and Lecturer, George Melly died

Stephen Foster

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:45:01 +0000

Stephen Foster

Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as the “father of American music”, was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. His songs — such as “Oh! Susanna”, “Camptown Races”, “Old Folks at Home” (“Swanee River”), “Hard Times Come Again No More”, “My Old Kentucky Home”, “Old Black Joe”, “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”, and “Beautiful Dreamer” — remain popular over 150 years after their composition.

Foster attended private academies in Allegheny, Athens, and Towanda, Pennsylvania. He received an education in English grammar, diction, the classics, penmanship, Latin and Greek, and mathematics. In 1839, his elder brother William was serving his apprenticeship as an engineer at nearby Towanda and thought Stephen would benefit from being under his supervision. The site of the Camptown Races is 30 miles from Athens, and 15 miles from Towanda. Stephen attended Athens Academy from 1839 to 1841. He wrote his first composition, Tioga Waltz, while attending Athens Academy, and performed it during the 1839 commencement exercises; he was 14. It was not published during the composer’s lifetime, but it is included in the collection of published works by Morrison Foster. In 1842, Athens Academy was destroyed in a fire.

Stephen Foster

His education included a brief period at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (now Washington & Jefferson College). His tuition was paid, but Foster had little spending money. Sources conflict on whether he left willingly or was dismissed; but, either way, he left Canonsburg to visit Pittsburgh with another student and didn’t return.

During his teenage years, Foster was influenced greatly by two men. Henry Kleber (1816–1897), one of Stephen’s few formal music instructors, was a classically trained musician who emigrated from Darmstadt, Germany, to Pittsburgh and opened a music store. Dan Rice was an entertainer, a clown and black-face singer, making his living in traveling circuses. Although respectful of the more civilized parlor songs of the day, he and his friends would often sit at a piano, writing and singing minstrel songs through the night. Eventually, Foster would learn to blend the two genres to write some of his best-known work.

Oh! Susanna

In 1846, Foster moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a bookkeeper with his brother’s steamship company. While in Cincinnati, Foster penned his first successful songs, among them “Oh! Susanna” which would prove to be the anthem of the California Gold Rush in 1848–1849. In 1849, he published Foster’s Ethiopian Melodies, which included the successful song “Nelly Was a Lady”, made famous by the Christy Minstrels. A plaque marks the site of Foster’s residence in Cincinnati, where the Guilford School building is now located.

Then he returned to Pennsylvania and signed a contract with the Christy Minstrels. It was during this period that Foster would write most of his best-known songs: “Camptown Races” (1850), “Nelly Bly” (1850), “Old Folks at Home” (known also as “Swanee River”, 1851), “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853), “Old Dog Tray” (1853), and “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair” (1854), written for his wife Jane Denny McDowell.

Stephen Foster statue on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh

Many of Foster’s songs were of the black-face minstrel show tradition popular at the time. Foster sought, in his own words, to “build up taste … among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words which belong to some songs of that order.”

Although many of his songs had Southern themes, Foster never lived in the South and visited it only once, by river-boat voyage (on his brother Dunning’s steam boat, the Millinger) down the Mississippi to New Orleans, during his honeymoon in 1852.

Foster attempted to make a living as a professional songwriter and may be considered innovative in this respect, since this field did not yet exist in the modern sense. Due in part to the limited scope of music copyright and composer royalties at the time, Foster realized very little of the profits which his works generated for sheet music printers. Multiple publishers often printed their own competing editions of Foster’s tunes, not paying Foster anything. For “Oh, Susanna”, he received $100.

Stephen Foster and George Cooper - this photo (the last taken of the songwriter) was made in January 1864, just a few days before Foster died

Foster moved to New York City in 1860. About a year later, his wife and daughter left him and returned to Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1862, his fortunes decreased, and as they did, so did the quality of his new songs. Early in 1863, he began working with George Cooper, whose lyrics were often humorous and designed to appeal to musical theater audiences. The Civil War created a flurry of newly written music with patriotic war themes, but this did not benefit Foster.

Stephen Foster had become impoverished while living at the North American Hotel at 30 Bowery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. His brother Henry described the accident that led to his death:

Confined to bed for days by a persistent fever, Foster tried to call a chambermaid, but collapsed, falling against the washbasin next to his bed and shattering it, which gouged his head.

It took three hours to get him to Bellevue Hospital, and in an era before transfusions and antibiotics, he succumbed three days after his admittance at the age of thirty-seven.

In his worn leather wallet, there was found a scrap of paper that simply said “Dear friends and gentle hearts” along with 35 cents in Civil War scrip and three pennies.

Foster was buried in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. One of his most beloved works, “Beautiful Dreamer”, was published shortly after his death.

OLD FOLKS AT HOME

(Deanna Durbin)

OH! SUSANNA

(James Taylor and Johnny Cash)

BEAUTIFUL DREAMER

(Nelson Eddy)

CAMPTOWN RACES

(Vanilla Mood)

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Traditional Songs Of Stephen Foster (MP3 Download)

New From:	$6.99 In Stock
Release date November 17, 2006.

Today in Rock Roots History – July 4

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:00:15 +0000

On this date in 1826, the so-called “Father of American Music”, Songwriter, Stephen Foster was born
On this date in 1895, American Composer and Lyricist, Irving Caesar was born
On this date in 1911, American Musician, Singer, Conductor, Record Producer, and Record Executive, Mitch Miller was born
On this date in 1931, American Jazz Cornetist, Buddie Petit died
On this date in 1943, German Jazz Trombonist, Conny Bauer was born
On this date in 1943, American Singer, Harmonica Player and Musician, Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson of Canned Heat was born
On this date in 1948, British Musician, Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac was born
On this date in 1952, British Bassist and Singer, John Waite of The Babys and Bad English was born
On this date in 1958, Australian Saxophonist, Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter and Producer, Kirk Pengilly of INXS was born
On this date in 1984, American Singer, Songwriter, Musician, and Bandleader, Jimmie Spheeris died
On this date in 2003, American Singer, Songwriter and Record Producer, Barry White of Love Unlimited died
On this date in 2007, American Singer, Bill Pinkney, the last surviving original member of The Drifters died
On this date in 2009, American Businessman, Talent Agent and Record Label Executive, Allen Klein died
On this date in 2009, American Guitarist, Drake Levin of Paul Revere and the Raiders died
On this date in 2009, American Jazz Drummer, Jim Chapin died

Bobby Day

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 01:36:02 +0000

Bobby Day

Bobby Day (July 1, 1928 – July 27, 1990), was an early African American rock and roll and R&B musician.

Born Robert James Byrd, (making him Bobby Byrd – not to be confused with the funk musician/Famous Flames member of the same name), in Fort Worth, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles, California at the age of fifteen. As a member of the R&B group, The Hollywood Flames, he used the stage name Bobby Day to perform and record. He went several years with minor musical success limited to the West Coast, including being the original “Bob” in the duo Bob & Earl.

In 1957, Day formed his own band called the “Satellites” following which he recorded three songs that are seen today as rock and roll classics.

Day’s best known songwriting efforts were “Over and Over” made popular by the Dave Clark Five in 1965 and “Little Bitty Pretty One” popularized by Thurston Harris in 1957, Clyde McPhatter in 1962 and the Jackson Five in 1972. However, Day is most remembered for his 1958 solo recording of the Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit, “Rockin’ Robin”, written by Leon Rene under the pseudonym Jimmie Thomas. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. “Rockin’ Robin” was a song covered by Bob Luman at Town Hall Party on 28 October 1958, The Hollies in 1964, Gene Vincent in 1969, Michael Jackson in 1972, and by McFly in 2006.

Sometimes referred to as a one-hit wonder, because despite numerous recordings with a variety of record labels, Day never achieved another Top 40 hit apart from “Rockin’ Robin”.

Day died of cancer in 1990, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

ROCKIN’ ROBIN

PRETTY LITTLE GIRL NEXT DOOR

OVER AND OVER

LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE

ALONE TOO LONG

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The Best of Bobby Day (MP3 Download)

New From:	$8.99 In Stock
Release date September 20, 2010.

Today in Rock Roots History – July 3

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:46:35 +0000

On this date in 1878, American Singer, Playwright, Composer, Lyricist, Actor, Dancer, and Producer, George M. Cohan was born
On this date in 1893, American Blues Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter, Mississippi John Hurt was born
On this date in 1926, American R&B and Jazz Trumpeter, Johnny Coles was born
On this date in 1930, American Guitarist, Tommy Tedesco was born
On this date in 1930, American Jazz Clarinetist, Pete Fountain was born
On this date in 1943, Australian Jazz and Folk Singer Judith Durham of The Seekers was born
On this date in 1946, American Country Singer, Johnny Lee was born
On this date in 1947, British Guitarist Top Topham of The Yardbirds was born
On this date in 1948, American Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist, Paul Barrere of Little Feat was born
On this date in 1949, American R&B and Funk Singer, Johnnie Wilder Jr. of Heatwave was born
On this date in 1957, American Singer, Songwriter and Musician, Laura Branigan was born
On this date in 1959, American Singer, Songwriter and Musician, Stephen Pearcy of Ratt was born
On this date in 1969, British Singer, Songwriter and Musician, Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones died
On this date in 1971, American Singer and Lyricist, Jim Morrison of The Doors died
On this date in 1986, American Singer, Musician, Bandleader and Actor, Rudy Vallée died
On this date in 2001, American Country Singer, Songwriter and Comedian, Johnny Russell died
On this date in 2007, American Saxophonist, Boots Randolph died

Today in Rock Roots History – July 2

admin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 02:56:17 +0000

On this date in 1897, Italian scientist, Guglielmo Marconi obtained a patent for radio in London
On this date in 1916, American Singer and Actor, Ken Curtis was born
On this date in 1917, American Musician, Producer, and Music Manager, Murray Wilson was born
On this date in 1934, British Singer, Songwriter, Musician and Record Producer, Tom Springfield of The Springfields was born
On this date in 1939, Soul and R&B Singer, Songwriter and Musician, Paul Williams of The Temptations was born
On this date in 1948, Singer, Songwriter and Record Producer, Gene McFadden was born
On this date in 1949, American Musician and Songwriter, Roy Bittan of The E Street Band was born
On this date in 1953, American Musician and Producer, Mark Hart of Crowded House was born
On this date in 1954, Irish Bassist, Pete Briquette of The Boomtown Rats was born
On this date in 1973, American Singer and Actress, Betty Grable died
On this date in 1990, American Singer, Snooky Lanson died
On this date in 2002, American Jazz Bassist, Ray Brown died