March 21, 2015: R.I.P. Martin Simmons

March 21, 2015: Musician Extraordinaire  
Martin Simmons  

passed away...It was the early 1970s when I met Martin and one of his earliest bands (Geyda) at the Odyssey Bar in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Then, for years to come I saw him at so many venues that it's just too hard to remember them all. The man was a musical genius who gave it away...

On the streets...

Rockin' a party...

At a benefit...

At a friend's funeral...

Another benefit...(Photo credit: Wayne Dabney)

Playin' with a friend...

The Master, R.I.P. Brother...

You will be missed by many!

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…

APRIL 21, 1961: The Olympics, Aretha Franklin, The Capris, Johnny Hartman and The Dells start a seven night stand at Chicago's famed Regal Theater...

April 21, 1961: THE FIRST NIGHT OF A SEVEN DAY STAND AT CHICAGO’S FAMED REGAL THEATER...

 THE SHOW INCLUDED:
The Olympics, Aretha Franklin, The Capris, Johnny Hartman and The Dells…LOTTA GREAT MUSIC FOR A SOLID WEEK STAND!!!

 The Olympics, an already well- established act, famous for very hip, but nearly novelty tunes such as the 1958 smash hit WESTERN MOVIES  and my favorite, the 1960 release titled BIG BOY PETE...

On this tour they were also introducing America to another side of the usually ‘playful’ Olympics with the ballad
"Stay Where You Are"

And they most likely did DOOLEY because it was the A-Side of

STAY WHERE YOU (which was their latest release)…

AND, without a doubt, they tore up the joint with their dance tunes like (Baby) Hully Gully...

 IT WAS CERTAINLY A PART OF THEIR SHOW AS SEEN HERE IN 1965…

 SHIMMY LIKE KATE

 And their newest dance tune  
MASH THEM TATERS 

(NOTE: This great group is still touring today! And, STAY WHERE YOU ARE is part of that show… Check ‘em out!)

Aretha Franklin, that “new kid” from The Motor City was also on the show… (“new” even though she’d already been touring for the past four years—She was 19 in 1961),..

 By the time of this 1961 tour, Aretha already had two Top 10 R&B hits with "Operation Heartbreak" and "Won't Be Long"…

(NOTE;  Check out this cool Aretha Franklin Bio video)

The Capris were still makin’ time with their already classic hit...

THERE’S A MOON OUT TONIGHT…

The Jazz Singer, Johnny Hartman was on the bill in support of his pre-Coltrane career… 

AND SO WERE THE DELLS!

OH WHAT A NIGHT(!?!)

—WHAT A GREAT SEVEN NIGHTS

AT THE REGAL!!!

THAT’S HOW IT WAS DONE IN 1961…

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

APRIL 18, 1924: CLARENCE "GATEMOUTH" BROWN HITS THE PLANET: Although primarily known as a rhythm &blues artist, Brown's music truly defied any simple description...

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

 (April 18, 1924 — September 10, 2005)

Blues guitarist and fiddler Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown was born in Vinton, Louisiana, but raised in Orange, Texas. His professional musical career began in 1945, playing drums in San Antonio, Texas…

He was tagged with the moniker "Gatemouth"  by a high school instructor who claimed young  Brown had a "voice like a gate". Brown used it to his advantage throughout his career...

A true musician's musician, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown mastered the guitar, fiddle, drums, viola, harmonica, piano, mandolin and bass. Gatemouth's smooth blend of Texas style swing with Jazz, Country and Cajun music has altered the definition of the Blues. His versatility singles him out as an architect of modern Blues sounds.

"Gatemouth" on Piano

Although primarily known as a rhythm & blues artist, Brown's music truly defied any simple description. Influenced by big bands and horn players, Louis Jordan and others, his work on the guitar and fiddle exhibited the music he grew up hearing along the Gulf Coast…

One evening in 1947, when Gatemouth was in attendance at a T-Bone Walker concert in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub,

Walker became ill,  and Brown took up his guitar and quickly wrote and played "Gatemouth Boogie," right on the spot! This was the beginning of a long association between Gatemouth and Robey…

In 1949 Robey founded Peacock Records in order to showcase Brown's virtuoso guitar work.

Johnny Ace on Duke

 Brown's "Mary Is Fine"/"My Time Is Expensive" was a hit for Peacock in 1949. A string of Peacock releases in the 1950s were less successful commercially, but were nonetheless pioneering musically. (Peacock combined with Duke in 1952).

Particularly notable of Gatemouth’s Peacock releases was the  instrumental "Okie Dokie Stomp", in which Brown solos continuously over a punchy horn section…

Other instrumentals from this period include "Boogie Uproar" and "Gate Walks to Board”

His final Peacock release (1959) showcases his gutsy violin playing:  "Just Before Dawn"

In the 1960s Gatemouth made several appearances on the television show Hee Haw and, in 1966, Brown was the musical director for the house band on the short-lived television program, The !!!! Beat…

 

AND ALL OF THE ABOVE WAS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THIS INCREDIBLE ARTIST’S CAREER…

Check out Gatemouth’s Bio on
“All About Jazz”

And his Obituary
 as reported on CBS: 

And his New York Times Obituary:

R.I.P. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown...

 You Earned The Rest!

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, MAN…

HOLLYWOOD'S MACAMBO CLUB IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'N ROLL

The Mocambo was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8588 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip.

                                              
It was opened on January 3, 1941, and the Mocambo became an immediate success. $100,000 had been spent on the decor of the club with a Latin American theme. Along the walls were glass cages holding live cockatoos, macaws and other parrots. With big band music, the club became one of the most popular dance-till-dawn spots in town. On any given night, one might find the room filled with the leading men and women of the motion picture industry.

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

 In 1943, when Frank Sinatra became a solo act,

he made his Los Angeles debut at Mocambo.

Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland

 

The mid 1950s saw Ella Fitzgerald become the first African-American to perform at the Mocambo, after Marilyn Monroe had lobbied the owner for the booking.

I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt. It was because of her that I played the Mocambo, a very popular nightclub (Ella Fitzgerald)

The booking was instrumental in Fitzgerald's career. The incident was turned into a play by Bonnie Greer in 2005.

Among the celebrities who frequented the much talked about Mocambo were Gable and Lombard, Bogart and Bacall…

Bogart and Bacall were regulars at The Macombo

     Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, Janet Leigh and Louis B. Mayer. Myrna Loy and Arthur Hornblow celebrated their divorce there.

The club was featured on the TV series I Love Lucy, and Ricky Ricardo and his orchestra can still be seen there in reruns.

Desi Arnez a/k/a Ricky Ricardo

The Mocambo was also parodied mercilessly in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Slick Hare.

According to a commentary track on the DVD with this cartoon, the man who came up with the visuals of the restaurant managed to get into the kitchen and drew the kitchen exactly as he saw it - complete with dripping grease on the refrigerator and vegetables lying around the ground!

Billy Ward And His Dominoes played at The Mocambo, Los Angeles on January 4, 1955

The Mocambo closed in 1959. The site is now a parking lot