BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
MEETING THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10TH
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 2PM
NEXT MEETING, NOVEMBER 14TH.
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
************WE ARE BACK AT THE HOMEWOOD LIBRARY – 2:00 PM ROOM 101************
Our September meeting was held at the Sound Of Birmingham Recording Studios and everyone had a great time. Owner and BRC Hall of Fame member, Don Mosley talked about the history of the studio and gave us a tour. One of the recordings that Don did was in 1978 when a group of students from Ramsay High School, located not far from the studio came in with their music teacher. They called themselves Astrology and laid down two tracks that they had written themselves. Released on the Fleeing Star label, the record didn’t get any radio play but is now coveted by soul collectors and has sold for a s much as $500 for a copy. It is listed in the record price guide books for $1000-2000. Be on the look-out for that one. Thanks again, Don.
Children Of The Stars
Astrology
Love Moods
Astrology
This month we will have two members of the Gadsden, AL band The Bleus as our special guest. Formed in 1965, the band had songs released on the Swing, Amy, Bell & Diamond label. They recorded in Muscle Shoals and in Birmingham at Boutwell Studios. We look forward to learning more about another Alabama band and hearing their memories of playing and recording during the early days of rock. And remember, we are back at the Homewood Library this month. Meeting begins at 2:00PM in room 101.
Our November meeting has scheduled Rick Hester as our guest. Rick played in two well-known early and mid-60’s bands from Birmingham, The Epics and Rooster & The Townsmen. Be sure to make plans to come meet and hear from Rick.
WHO PLAYED THAT?
A 2013 documentary entitled ‘Twenty Feet From Stardom’ featured the experiences of back-up singers and their role in recording some iconic sounds on some of rocks great songs. Lately it got me to thinking about who played lead guitar on some of the early rock & roll hits that we only knew who the singers were. So I made a quick list of songs and artists and checked into it. Maybe you know some of them already but probably not all.
First let me mention some singers who did their own lead guitar work. Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Rirchie Valens and this is just a few who did both. But behind the scene on many recordings were some great musicians. Here’s a few.
One of the most well-known session lead guitarist is James Burton. Burton is best known for his work with Ricky Nelson. During Ricky’s first 11 years of recording it was James Burton who was the lead on most of the songs. When Burton was hired to be lead guitar on the TV show, Shindig, he didn’t tour with Ricky but continued to record for him. One little known fact is that it was Burton who played lead guitar on Dale Hawkins’ hit, ‘Susie Q’. Burton had been asked by Elvis to perform on his 1968 comeback TV special but had to turn him down due to the volume of work he was involved in. When approached again by Elvis in 1969 Burton accepted to be a part of his Las Vegas show. Burton formed the TCB Band and served as the leader. He stayed with Elvis from 1969 until Elvis’ death I n 1977. Other than Ricky and Elvis, Burton recorded and performed with acts such as Bob Luman, The Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2001.
I wonder what guitarist Scotty Moore was thinking when he was teamed with Elvis Presley to record at Sun Studios in 1954. I suppose he was glad just to be working. And what did Elvis think about Scotty and his guitar playing? Well, whatever their first impressions, they made quite a team. The Blue Moon Boys as Scotty, Elvis and bassist Bill Black were first called by Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips, first recorded in June 1954 almost a year after Elvis had first dropped by Sun and recorded a demo for his mother. Scotty was leading a band called the Starlite Wranglers prior to being teamed with Elvis. His guitar work with Elvis has been hailed as some of the most influential work in early rock & roll. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards said when he first heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ that he knew ‘what he wanted to do in my life. Everybody wanted to be Elvis, I wanted to be Scotty.’ Scotty did some session work at RCA and continued to work with Sam Phillips at Sun as his days with Elvis wound down. Scotty was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007 and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
One thing listeners remember about Bill Haley & The Comets music is the lead guitar. The main lead for Haley on the early recordings was Danny Cedrone. Two recordings Cedrone was the lead on was ‘Rock The Joint’ and ‘Rock Around The Clock’. Haley didn’t keep a permanent lead guitarist but Cedrone was there for many of the Comets recordings. Also used by Haley included Art Ryerson who played on ‘Crazy Man, Crazy’ and ‘Fractured’. Cedrone died after a fall just weeks after ‘Rock Around The Clock’ was recorded. He was replaced by Franny Beecher who played on recordings from 1954-1962. Included in the recordings were ‘Dim, Dim The Lights’, ‘Rip It Up’ and ‘See You Later Alligator’ in which Beecher’s voice is the high-pitched one at the beginning saying, ‘See You Later Alligator’. All the Comets were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2012.
The Tennessee Three was a band that could have been called a garage band if that term had been around in 1954. When Johnny Cash returned to the states after serving in Germany while in the Air Force he moved to Memphis where he met some co-workers of his brother, Roy Cash. The guys would meet at one of the guys hometo play and later decided to form a band. Johnny Cash got an audition at Sun Studios in late 1954 and the four guys played their stuff. One of the guys left the group and they were called the Tennessee Two but sometime later added a drummer so the backing band for Cash would become the Tennessee Three with Fluke Holland on drums, Marshall Gramt on bass and Luther Perkins on lead guitar. Perkins would be with Cash for over 10 years playing on most of his recordings and touring with him. His playing became known as the Johnny Cash signature ‘boom-chicka-boom’ style. Unfortunately, Perkins died from complications due to a house fire in 1968. Cash once said that the group met Keith Richards in the early 1960’s but that Richards only wanted to spend time talking to Luther. Cash replaced Luther with Bob Wootton just before the group’s San Quentin Penitentiary live LP was recorded and stayed with Cash until 1980. But if asked who gave Johnny Cash his ‘Cash’ sound it would be Luther Perkins on guitar. At Cash’s last Sun recording session the group recorded a song entitle ‘Luther Played The Boogie’. In case you didn’t know, now you know who Luther was. As far as I can tell the Tennessee Three has not been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame – shame on them!
What group would be formed thanks to all three guys having an interest in not only music but boxing? Johnny Burnette, his brother Dorsey and guitar player, amateur boxer, Paul Burlison would form the Rock And Roll Trio in the early 1950’s. Dorsey and Paul met at boxing tournament in 1949. All three of the guys were boxers with the Burnette brothers being Golden Glove champions during their time. Although the group were together for only about four years they left behind some of the most coveted vinyl in the collecting world. Their Coral label recordings, which numbers around six are some of the earliest rockabilly music. Johnny and Dorsey would go on to have good careers as solo artist while Burlison moved back to Memphis to start a family and his own electrical business. But what a sound Burlison gave to the Trios music and the music world. And once again here is a group that was pioneer in early rock and left influences on many up-and-coming artists that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame does not recognize – shame again on them!
No more room this month for so many lead guitarist to be mentioned. But hopefully when listening to music you will begin to take notice and wonder who was it that played not only guitar but all the backing instruments for major solo artists. Check out Cliff Gallup who recorded 35 cuts with Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps including ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’, ‘Race With The Devil’ and ‘Woman Love’.
BRC RADIO
Check out our latest shows at birminghamrecord.com. Click on ‘RADIO’ and listen to some long-lost music and even some new sounds. Be sure to check out our newest host, Tom Faison. Tom gives you a ‘vinyl experience’ with some great sounds. Check out all our shows. http://www.birminghamrecord.com/brc/category/radio/
See ya,