January 17, 2012: Johnny Otis, a Rock 'n' Roll pioneer who reached #9 in America (Number One R ‘n B Charts) with "Willie And The Hand Jive" in 1958, died of natural causes at the age of 90…

Johnny Otis was an influential performer, disc jockey, record producer, TV show host and talent scout. 





He is credited with  discovering such artists as Jackie Wilson,  Little Willie John, Hank Ballard,  Big Mama Thornton 
  and Little Esther….



Otis scored 15 Top 10 R ‘n B hits between 1950 and 1952, including his #1 cover of the jazz standard “Harlem Nocturne.” 



Not only was he ultra talented, he could spot it in others. Johnny opened up his own club in L.A., the Barrelhouse, to showcase his discoveries…

When Etta James only 13 years old, Johnny produced and co-wrote her first hit single “Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry).”

  

  He also discovered Big Mama Thornton singing while cleaning hotel rooms. He co-wrote, produced and played on her seminal recording of “Hound Dog” in 1953, several years before Elvis Presley brought the song to the charts; however Otis’ songwriting credit was removed from Elvis’ recording by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. “Every Beat of My Heart” was a hit tune he wrote for The Royals in 1952…



 And, of course,  Gladys Knight & The Pips had a hit with the same tune in 1961….

Johnny Otis  produced Johnny Ace’s number one hit “Pledging My Love”



 and The Fiestas’ classic hit “So Fine”    

 —He was also playing on those two hit records!

He’s most remembered for a 1958 release that climbed all the way to #9 on the Pop charts and #1 R ‘n B; that song with the infectious Bo Diddley beat and terrific guitar work by Jimmy Nolen, “Willie and the Hand Jive.” 

    The song is about a dance featuring hand movements called “The Hand Jive.”
The “Hand Jive” dance came from England where teenagers were not permitted to stand and dance at concert venues. Instead they created a hand movement dance that could be done from their seats.
 It’s also been said that the “Hand Jive” was also slang for masturbation…

Eric Clapton had a #26 chart hit with the song in 1974, as had Johnny Rivers in 1973. George Thorogood also had a minor chart hit with the song in 1985...

Johnny Otis was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1994. He died of natural causes on January 17, 2012.

R.I.P. Johnny Otis, the original

KING OF ROCK ‘n ROLL…

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… 

July 25th: Capitol Records gets its first #1 hit on this date in 1942 and Big Mama Thornton passed away on this date in 1984 and a whole lot more happened on this date, too, IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK ‘n ROLL…

July 25^th

 IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK ‘n ROLL…

July 25, 1942:
Capitol Records achieved their first #1 hit with a song called "Cow CowBoogie" 

 by 17-year-old Ella Mae Morse, accompanied by Freddie Slack and His Orchestra...

 Although Ella Mae's follow-up recordings sold fairly well, she never obtained a huge following, but continued to make records until 1957… 

1943 - Jim McCarty - drummer for the Yarbirds (NOT to be confused with Detroit’s Guitarist Extraordinaire, Jim McCarty of Rockets, Detroit Wheels, Cactus, Mystery Train, Seger, etc.  fame) hits the planet... 

July 25, 1960: 
The Ventures "Walk Don't Run" enters the US Pop chart and introduces the instrumental Surf sound to Rock 'n' Roll. The song will peak at #2 a month later…

 

July 25, 1964:
The Animals debut single "House of the Rising Sun" entered the UK chart at #16. The next week it will be #3 and seven days later it's number one…  

July 25, 1984:

American Rhythm and Blues singer Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton died of a heart attack at the age of 57. Her version of "Hound Dog" topped the Billboard R&B chart for seven weeks in 1952…

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… 

JUNE 14, 1969: Wynonie Harris--A MAJOR forerunner of Rock 'n Roll leaves the planet...

Wynonie Harris

(August 24, 1915 – June 14, 1969)

Omaha, Nebraska’s Blues Shouter/R&B Singer Wynonie Harris is generally considered one of Rock ‘n Roll’s forerunners, influencing, well, just about every Blues/R&B based rocker in the world!

Wynonie started his career when, with his partner Velda Shannon, he formed a dance team in the early 1930s—by 1934 they were a regular attraction at The Ritz Theater…

 It wasn’t until 1935, though, when he started singing The Blues,  that he began making his living as an entertainer and Harris became a local celebrity in Omaha during the depths of the Great Depression...

He really came into his own in Los Angeles when he became known as “Mr. Blues” in the L.A. nightclubs…

But, due to the musicians’ strike of 1942-1944, he was unable to become a recording artist at that time—SO HE PERFORMED LIVE CONTINUOUSLY!

In 1943, while performing at the Rhumboogie Club in Chicago, he hooked up with

Lucky Millinder...

…He was a member of Millinder’s band by March of 1944…

On April 7, 1944 he debuted with Millinder at THE APOLLO THEATER in Harlem and, for the first time, performed “Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well”

Millinder had a regular

“residency” gig at

 Harlem’s SAVOY CLUB

and Harris was a part of

that act, as well as with

the touring band…

In September of 1945, Harris was, or at least felt that he was, the major draw for the band. During a gig in San Antonio, Texas, Wynonie quit the band over financial disputes...

—He wanted more money!  ( Bull Moose Jackson replaced Harris as the vocalist in the band)...

Wynonie moved onto Syd Nathan’s King label where, during the late 40s and early 50s, he scored a series of US R&B Chart hits:

Good Rocking Tonight

Good Morning Judge

All She Wants To Do Is Rock

Wynonie had a great success with his cover of Hank Penny's “Bloodshot Eyes”

NOTE: In 1946, Harris recorded two singles with pianist Herman "Sonny" Blount, who later earned fame as the eclectic jazz composer and bandleader Sun Ra...

Times got tough over the years for Wynonie and his poor grasp of financial matters had him in poor fiscal shape through most of the late 1950s and up into the mid 1960s…

Wynonie eventually made his home in Oakland, California where he tended bar...

His last major gig was in November of 1967-- right back where he’d had his first, at THE APOLLO--He shared the bill with:
 Big Joe Turner

•  

  Big Mama Thornton, Jimmy Witherspoon and T-Bone Walker…

When Wynonie found out he was dying, he called all his friends together for one last party…

On June 14, 1969, aged 53, Harris died of esophageal cancer at the USC Medical Center Hospital in Los Angeles, California, USA…

R.I.P. MR. BLUES

• 1994: Inducted into the W.C. Handy Blues Hall of Fame by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee.
• 1998: Inducted into the Nebraska Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in Lincoln.
• 2000: Inducted into the High School Hall of Fame at Central High School in Omaha, Nebraska.
• 2005: Inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame.

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 

Rufus Thomas, Jr. (March 27, 1917 – December 15, 2001)

Rufus Thomas, Jr.
(March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001)

Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian from Memphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the 1950s and on Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s…

Rufus got his start at WDIA in 1950 or 1951—

Depending on which biography one believes!

His celebrity was such that in 1953 he recorded an "answer record" to Big Mama Thornton's hit, "Hound Dog" called "Bear Cat" released on Sun Records… 

Rufus doin' The Funky Chicken

His afternoon show at WDIA was called Hoot and Holler where Rufus Thomas helped to break the careers of such musicians as


Bobby "Blue"Bland, 

As well as; B.B. King, Ike Turner, Roscoe Gordon and Junior Parker. All while still performing himself...

He also took on the hosting duties for the WDIA amateur shows, enabling him to claim the discovery of various local (Memphis) artists, including the aforementioned discovery of B.B. King…



 

But the prime of Rufus' recording career came in the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was on the roster of Memphis label, Stax, having one of the first hit sides at the historic soul and blues label, "Walking the Dog", (#5 R&B, #10 Pop) in 1963.…

Rufus Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001…

He died of heart failure in 2001, at the age of 84, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis. A street is named in his honor, just off Beale Street in Memphis….

R.I.P. Rufus Thomas

and Thanks for EVERYTHING you did for us…

RUFUS AND HIS DAUGHTER
CARLA THOMAS

EVERYTHING!!!