MAY 29, 1958 ~ 1980 IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'n ROLL

Tropical Jon's
EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'n ROLL

May 29, 1958: Little Anthony and the Imperials record...

"Tears On My Pillow"

As you check out this blog, you’ll see I played around a lot. BUT, This  Little Anthony tune is THE REAL DEAL…

1960: Everley Brothers RECORD

Cathy’s Clown and it  hits #1

May 29, 1961:

Ricky Nelson's "Travelin' Man" hits #1…HERE’S RICKY!!!

1962: Ray Charles

“I Can’t Stop Loving You” hits #1 

Here’s the master doin’ it live in ’82…

MAY 29, 1963: Lesley Gore “It’s My Party”

PLUS A BONUS TRACK, (“She’s a Fool”)  TO BOOT!!! hits #1…YOU WOULD CRY TOO IF IT HAPPENED TO YOU!!!

1964: Beatles “Love Me Do” hits #1

1965: "Help Me Rhonda", featuring the lead vocals of rhythm guitarist Al Jardine, became The Beach Boys' second Billboard chart topper. In the UK however, the song could only manage to reach #27…Check ‘em ouit doin ‘ it on the Andy Williams show… 

 1966: Percy Sledge “When A Man Loves A Woman” hits #1

1967: The Motorcity's Aretha Frankl;in hits #1 with R-E-S-P-E-C-T...

1968: Simon & Garfunkle “Mrs. Robinson”  hits #1…Not a bad tune—FROM A GREAT MOVIE!!!

1969: Beatles “Get Back” hits #1

1970: Ray Stevens “Everything Is Beautiful”    hits #1—Hey, come on, this is TWENTY YEARS of #1 hits, gotta have at least one that is marginal…

1971: "Brown Sugar", The Rolling Stones' first release on their own label, became their sixth US number one single. Speculation on the meaning of the title has ranged from a sexist racial slur to Mexican heroin…Check ‘em out doin’ it live for the BBC…

1972: Stapler Singers

“I’ll Take You There” hits #1

1973: Paul McCartney
 “My Love”

hits #1…

Don’t care how you feel about Paul, but this is a beautiful song…

1973: Ray Stevens “The Streak” hits #1

1975: Freddy Fender “Before The Next TeardropFalls” hits #1

1976: Diana Ross reaches the top of the Billboard Pop chart for the fourth time in her solo career with "Love Hangover". It made #10 in the UK…

1977: Stevie Wonder “Sir Duke” hits #1…Oh yeah, Stevie, music is a world within itself…

1978: Johnny Mathis & Denise Williams “TooMuch, Too Little, Too Late”    hits #1

1979: Donna Summer “Hot Stuff” hits #1

R.I.P. DONNA, YOU MADE DISCO ALMOST BEARABLE…

1980: Lipps, Inc “Funkytown” hits #1… It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts in 1980, also reaching number 1 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Australia and The Netherlands. It reached No. 2 in the UK, Sweden and on the U.S. R&B chart…

MAY 29: A LOTTA ROCK 'N ROLL!!!

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May 28, 1966: Detroit's "Shades of Blue" hit the charts with "Oh How Happy"

Shades Of Blue...

A three man, one woman, Blue-eyed Soul group from Detroit, Michigan enter the Billboard Top 40 with the Edwin Starr penned  

"Oh How Happy"

 But follow-up releases would not be as successful.   That same year, the song "Lonely Summer", again written by Starr, reached #72…

Nick Marinelli, the original lead singer for the group, is still touring with a version of SHADES OF BLUE; although he is the only original member, the rest of the group being the old “Valadiers” of “Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)” fame…  

Do what ya gotta do Nick! 

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May 27, 1957: BUDDY HOLLY RELEASES THREE HITS!

Released THREE hit records on  on May 27, 1957:

 May 27, 1957:
Buddy Holly and the Crickets,

"That’ll Be The Day"

May 27, 1957: "Not Fade Away"

May 27, 1957: "Everyday”

YOU GO BUDDY!!!

R.I.P. BROTHER...

T









HE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 & 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY. NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED 

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr.

(Born May 27, 1935)

Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career…

At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz; he

would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eldee Young (Who would later form the group Young-Holt Unlimited)   to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio: The trio started as primarily a jazz unit and released their first album, Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing, in 1956.

Following their 1965 hit "The In Crowd" (the single reached #5 on the pop charts, and the album #2) they concentrated more on pop material…

In 1994, Lewis appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album,  alongside other prominent jazz artists, Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayers. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine…

Early in 2005, the Ramsey Lewis Foundation was created to help connect at-risk children to the world of music…

 

MAY 27: HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAMSEY LEWIS!

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MAY 27, 1932; JUNIOR PARKER HITS THE PLANET!

Junior Parker

(May 27, 1932 – November 18, 1971)

Junior Parker stuffed a lot of life into his thirty nine years! Born in Arkansas, he was on the scene in Memphis, playing with B.B. King and Bobby “Blue” Bland’s Beale Streeters by the time he was eighteen...

—That’s where her got “discovered” by Ike Turner…

Young Ike Turner

With the help of Turner, Junior was signed to Modern Records, putting out one single (“You’re My Angel”)...

This brought him to the attention of Sun Records’ Sam Phillips and he (along with his band) scored a Sun contract...

At Sun, Scotty Moore promptly
 “borrowed” the guitar riff to Parker’s “Love My Baby” and turned Elvis Presley’s version of “Mystery Train” into a smash hit…

Later that year (1953) Junior started touring with Bobby Bland and Johnny Ace as members of the highly successful Blues Consolidated Revue (a staple on the “Chitlin’ Circuit”) and became associated with the Duke Record label…

Here’s Junior with Little Milton:

1970:

Junior Parker died on November 18, 1971 during brain surgery...

Junior Parker
 inducted posthumously in 2002

R.I.P. JUNIOR PARKER...

May 26, 1940: Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm hits the planet (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012)

May 26, 1940:  Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm hits the planet...

(May 26, 1940

– April 19, 2012)

Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school…

THE HAWKS

After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins' band, “The Hawks”--A popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada, and on the East Coast of the United States…

By the mid 1960s, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked The Hawks to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans' negative response to Dylan's new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, during this period, Helm ended up working on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band….Helm returned to the group, then referred to simply as "the band"

Helm, center, performing with The Band. Hamburg, 1971

In 1968, The Band recorded their own album Music from Big Pink...  

The album catapulted The Band into stardom…

Levon on mandolin in 1971

Helm remained with The Band until their 1976 farewell performance…

Helm with The Band, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium 1976

In 1989, Helm toured with drummer Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included, guitarist Rick Danko,  singer/guitarist Joe Walsh, singer/pianist Dr. John, guitarist Nils Lofgren, singer Billy Preston, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and drummer Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson was a guest on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums and harmonica, and sang "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek" each night…

Helm's performance career in the 2000s revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, "The Barn," in Woodstock, New York…

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Levon Helm #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time…

On April 17, 2012, Helm's wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that Helm had end-stage cancer. They posted the following message on Helm's website:

"Dear Friends,

Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.

From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy

Surrounded by family and friends, Helm died on April 19, 2012, at 1:30 pm at in New York City…

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Levon Helm #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time…

Remembering Levon Helm. Recorded here playing with The Band at the Second Chance night club in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1984 on April 10th…

R.I.P. LEVON!!!

NOTE: Most of this blog was gleaned from info readily available on Wikipedia. There’s a LOT more to know about this incredible musician—GOOGLE THE MAN AND BE AMAZED!

THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 & 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY. NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED