These are great fun and interesting too. I take the line that British Rock n Roll certainly didn't start with perishing Cliff Richards but the likes of Wee Willie Harris, Tommy Steele and by now here's Marty Wilde and so on. Even the British Big Band leaders like Ted Heath (no, not THAT one!) and John Barry were getting aware of what was happening. The roots for all these are explored here on these fine four disc sets from the brilliant Twilightzone.
Many would argue that there was no such thing as Great British Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s, or at least not until 1958 when Cliff Richard's "Move It" offered a rather more convincing home-grown hit than all of its predecessors. However, apart from the Skiffle explosion, there was another quirky musical scene happening in Britain during the late '40s and 1950s. As far as we are aware, this compilation is the first authoritative musical documentation of that scene. Perhaps it should better be classed as NOSTALGIA rather than Rock 'n' Roll but there is a lot of fascinating stuff here, such as the Deep River Boys (from Virginia, USA, recording in Britain during their many UK tours), Ray Ellington (a British-based black bandleader of American & Russian descent) and Winifred Atwell, a classically trained pianist from Trinidad who would go to 'her other piano' to belt out some rockin' boogies. Elsewhere there are numerous talented British jazzers seeing which way the wind was blowing and jumping that jive, and some up 'n' coming UK popsters swaying their hips to the transatlantic rhythm. And of course Tommy Steele, who was acclaimed as Britain's first Rock 'n' Roll star (long before he started serenading little white bulls). This goes to show that swing rock 'n' roll was being recorded and performed on Britain in the early 50's far more than most realized.
trax CD 1:
1. Love Bug Crawl - Marty Wilde & The Wild Cats 2. Knee Deep In The Blues - Ricky James 3. C'min And Be Loved - Terry Dene 4. Be My Girl - Jima Dale 5. Hey You - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 6. Rock A Chicka - Frankie Vaughan 7. Spike's Rock - Ray Sendit & His Rockey Team 8. Let's Have A Party - Rikki Henderson 9. Slim Jim Tie - Terry Wayne 10. Raunchy - Ken Mackintosh 11. Rockin' At The 2 II's - Wee Willie Harris 12. Teenage Party - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 13. Fabulous - Alma Cogan 14. Honeycomb - Marty Wilde & The Wild Cats 15. Bluer Than Blue - Ricky James 16. Teddy Bear - Shorty Mitchell 17. Quiet Quiet Shhh - Bert Weedon 18. A White Sports Coat - Terry Dene 19. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone - Joey Castell 20. Wild Eyes And Tender Lips - Colin Hicks & His Cabin Boys 21. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - The Tunettes 22. Boogie Woogie Stomp - The Saints Jazz Band 23. The Green Door - Frankie Vaughan 24. I'm In Love Again - Alma Cogan 25. Crazy Dream - Jim Dale 26. Flannel Foot - Bert Weedon 27. A Handful Of Songs - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 28. Cool Shake - Larry Page 29. Late Extra - Russ Conway 30. She's Long, She's Tall - Johnny Southern & The Western Rhythm Kings 31. Boppin' The Blues - Terry Wayne 32. Applejack - Ken Macintosh 33. Butterfly - Tommy Steele
...originally served by Gyro1966..
trax CD 2: 1 Sticks And Stones - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 2 That Rock 'n' Rollin' Man - Ray Ellington 3 Nursery Rock - Art Baxter & His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners 4 Don't Knock The Rock - Shorty Mitchell & The Ken Jones Rock 'n' Rollers 5 Rampart Street Rock - Winifred Atwell 6 Wild Cat - Marty Wilde & The Wild Cats 7 Rockabilly Boogie - The John Barry Seven 8 Rock Mr. Piper - Billy Sproud 9 Off Beat Rock - Victor Silvester & His Rock N' Roll Rhythm 10 St. Louis Blues - The Deep River Boys 11 Earth Angel - The Southlanders 12 Little Darling - The Tunettes 13 Red Planet Rock - Don Lang & The Frantic Five 14 Rocket 0869 - Ray Sendit & His Rockey Team 15 Rock 'n' Roll Coaster - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 16 Rock You Sinners - Art Baxter & His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners 17 Rock Rock Rock - Shorty Mitchell & The Ken Jones Rock 'n' Rollers 18 Dance With Me Henry - Patty Forbes & The Oscar Robin Band 19 Fanfare Boogie - Eric Winstone Band 20 Rock 'n' Roll Those Big Brown Eyes - Tommy Sampson & His Strongmen 21 Birmingham Bounce - Ted Heath & His Orchestra, Jack Parnell 22 You Can't Say I Love You To A Rock 'n' Roll Tune - Joan Small 23 6.5 Special - Don Lang & The Frantic Five 24 Happy Days And Lonely Nights - Suzi Miller & Johnson Brothers 25 Slow Walk - Ken Macintosh 26 Mother Goose Jumps - The Kirchin Band 27 Rockin' - Tommy Sampson & His Strongmen 28 She Sells Sea Shells - Laurie London 29 Lula Rock-A-Hula - Joan Savage 30 Rhythm 'n' Blues - Eric Winstone Band 31 Matchbox - Terry Wayne 32 Zip Zip - The John Barry Seven 33 Rock Rock Rock - Lee Young, Woolf Phillips & His Skyrockets ...originally served by Gyro1966...
A great post from TwilightZone again lately in the double disc set of early EARLY British Rock n Roll including Winifred Attwell, Tommy Steele, Bert Weedon and George Chisholm et al! All slightly early for me but on the cusp of what we were listening toned certainly what my brother Steve was well aware of. This is great fun and superbly done
TWILIGHTZONE Says
Many would argue that there was no such thing as Great British Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s, or at least not until 1958 when Cliff Richard's "Move It" offered a rather more convincing home-grown hit than all of its predecessors. However, apart from the Skiffle explosion, there was another quirky musical scene happening in Britain during the late '40s and 1950s. As far as we are aware, this compilation is the first authoritative musical documentation of that scene.
Perhaps it should better be classed as NOSTALGIA rather than Rock 'n' Roll but there is a lot of fascinating stuff here, such as the Deep River Boys (from Virginia, USA, recording in Britain during their many UK tours), Ray Ellington (a British-based black bandleader of American & Russian descent) and Winifred Atwell, a classically trained pianist from Trinidad who would go to 'her other piano' to belt out some rockin' boogies. Elsewhere there are numerous talented British jazzers seeing which way the wind was blowing and jumping that jive, and some up 'n' coming UK popsters swaying their hips to the transatlantic rhythm. And of course Tommy Steele, who was acclaimed as Britain's first Rock 'n' Roll star (long before he started serenading little white bulls).
This goes to show that swing rock 'n' roll was being recorded and performed on Britain in the early 50's far more than most realized
Paul and Linda McCartney with their daughters; Heather, Mary and Stella. Los Angeles. 1975.
Photo taken by Harry Benson.
I love this picture and did of most of the shots of his early family life with Linda and the children but this is particularly great I thought. I do miss Linda and we were big fans of her and Wings and all the early stuff. Big Bop, I say! I have remarked before how lovely it was to see Paul grown into such a great Dad from his relationship with Julian (still going strong I see the other day) and the story of Heather and all the rest of the kids too. He must be so proud . . . . . . . love them all!
Beautiful South - Song For Whoever Top Of The Pops 1989
From Route Publishers:
"Song for Whoever" is a song by The Beautiful South, written by band members Paul Heaton, and David Rotheray. The first and highest-charting single from their debut album Welcome to the Beautiful South, it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in July 1989 and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. Considered typical of the band's gently subversive, self-reflexive signature style, it is sung from the point of view of a cynical songwriter who romances women solely to get material for love songs.
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 30
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 22
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 87
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) 8
Ireland (IRMA) 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 17
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 22
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 2
West Germany (Official German Charts) 21
Following the disbandment of the British indie pop group the Housemartins in 1989, vocalist Paul Heaton and drummer David Hemmingway formed the Beautiful South. Where their previous group relied on jazzy guitars and witty, wry lyrics, the Beautiful South boasted a more sophisticated, jazzy pop sound, layered with keyboards, R&B-inflected female backing vocals and, occasionally, light orchestrations. Often, the group's relaxed, catchy songs contradicted the sarcastic, cynical thrust of the lyrics. Nevertheless, the band's pleasant arrangements often tempered whatever bitterness there was in Heaton's lyrics, and that's part of the reason why the Beautiful South became quite popular within its native Britain during the '90s. Though the group never found a niche in America -- by the middle of the decade, their records weren't even being released in the U.S. -- their string of melodic jazz-pop singles made them one of the most successful, if one of the least flashy, bands in Britain. Their popularity was confirmed by the astonishing success of their 1994 singles compilation, Carry on Up the Charts, which became one of the biggest-selling albums in British history.
Heaton and Hemmingway formed the Beautiful South immediately after the breakup of the Housemartins, who were one of the most popular and well-reviewed British guitar pop bands of the mid-'80s. The Housemartins had earned a reputation for being somewhat downbeat Northerners, so the duo chose the name Beautiful South sarcastically. To complete the lineup, the pair hired former Anthill Runaways vocalist Briana Corrigan, bassist Sean Welch, drummer David Stead (formerly a Housemartins roadie), and guitarist David Rotheray, who became Heaton's new collaborator. In the summer of 1989, they released their first single, "Song for Whoever," on the Housemartins' old record label, Go!. "Song for Whoever" climbed to number two, while its follow-up "You Keep It All In" peaked at number eight in September, 1989. A month later, the group's debut, Welcome to the Beautiful South, was released to positive reviews. "A Little Time," the first single from the group's second album, Choke, became the group's first number one single in the fall of 1990. Choke was also well-received, even though it didn't quite match the performance of the debut, either in terms of sales or reviews. In particular, some critics complained that Heaton was becoming too clever and cynical for his own good. The Beautiful South released their third album, 0898, in 1992; it was their first record not to be released in the United States, yet it maintained their success in Britain. Following the release of 0898, Corrigan left the group, reportedly upset over some of Heaton's ironic lyrics. She was replaced with Jacqui Abbot, who made her first appearance on the band's fourth album, 1994's Miaow.
While both 0898 and Miaow were popular, they were only moderate successes. Their respectable chart performances in no way prepared any observers, including the band themselves, for the blockbuster success of Carry on Up the Charts, a greatest-hits collection released at the end of 1994. Carry on Up the Charts entered the charts at number one. It was one of the fastest-selling albums in U.K. history and its success outlasted the Christmas season. The album stayed at number one for several months, going platinum many times over and, in the process, becoming one of the most popular albums in British history. Its success was a bit of a surprise, since the popularity of the Beautiful South's previous albums never indicated the across-the-boards success that greeted Carry on Up the Charts. The album wasn't released in America until late 1995, after it broke several U.K. records.
The Beautiful South released their follow-up to Miaow, Blue Is the Colour, in the fall of 1996. Quench followed three years later, then Painting It Red in fall 2000, and Gaze in 2003.
Great piece on Lou Reed and John Cale's first collaborations and while credited to Lou it is no less a project affected by John quite as (more? sic). This from Aquarium Drinkard is an especially good read and by the ever fascinating t wilcox
"Listening to this phenomenal collection of Velvet Underground prehistory, it’s fairly mind-boggling how fast Lou Reed and John Cale moved in the earliest stages of their creative partnership. Less than a year after these acoustic demos were made, the pair were in the studio recording the epochal Velvet Underground & Nico — an LP whose reverberations are still being felt today". t wilcox
Words & Music is credited to Reed, but it’s just as important a chapter in Cale’s story as well. Ultimately, this necessary set is a tribute to the wonders of happenstance. That these two oddballs from different worlds somehow found each other and managed (for a short time) to create such powerful art together was incredibly unlikely. But we’re all better off because of it
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