Country Cavalcade

The WMNI Country Cavalcade 
special thanks to Matt Mnich and Bob O'Brien

WMNI, a powerful country music station in Columbus, Ohio, during the 1960s and 1970s, hosted a live stage show called the “Country Cavalcade.” Contrary to many other shows of its type, the Cavalcade began its history relatively late at the end of 1974. At that time, many of the old live stage shows had ended.

WMNI turned to a country music programming in late 1965. The station was owned by North American Broadcasting, headed by William R. “Bill” Mnich, who had founded the company in 1958. Both the Southern Theatre and the hotel next to the theatre, known as the Grand Southern Hotel, also belonged to North American Broadcasting. Shortly after WMNI became a country station, live stage shows were organized at the Southern Theatre and the much larger Veterans Memorial Auditorium, beginning in 1966 with great success. These shows, however, were not broadcasted over radio.

The idea of a regular Saturday night stage show came from Bill Mnich. The start for the “Country Cavalcade” finally came late in 1974. Mnich was the driving force behind the show, as he booked the acts, produced and managed the Cavalcade. Emcee of the show was Ron Barlow, DJ and program director of WMNI from 1970 until 1975 or early 1976. Barlow then left due to a disagreement with Mnich and was replaced by Carl Wendelken, who also shared managing /producing credits with Mnich. Rick Minerd, who helped Wendelken at times with the emcee work, recalled: “Our Country Cavalcade was a local version of WSM's Grand Ole Opry Show and like the grand daddy of them all we featured live acts on Saturday nights from a beautiful historic theatre.”

The show was airing live over WMNI and taped for broadcasting over the Mutual Network, which included over 600 stations at that time and exposed the Country Cavalcade to a large audience across the United States. It was also tried to broadcast live over the network, which was stopped again shortly afterwards, however, since it caused too many problems (the show had to be broadcasted simultaneously in four different time zones). A book called “Historic Columbus: A Bicentennial History” devoted some space to WMNI and also the Cavalcade: „In the mid to late 1970s, nationally known entertainers appeared before packed houses at the Southern Theater. The shows were broadcast on WMNI and distributed to hundreds of other radio stations over the Mutual Radio Network.”At some point in 1976, the show was dropped from the network but continued to air over WMNI.

Many of the artists were local acts but some of them enjoyed some success, even nationally. Ott Stephens was an recording artist on Chart Records from Nashville during the 1960s and also partially owner of that label. He appeared regularly on the Country Cavalcade. Although he had sold his interests in Chart by the time the Cavalcade went on the air, a lot of the Chart recording artists nevertheless made regular performances on the show through him. The artists profited from the nationwide exposure of the show and some of them even reached the Billboard country charts.
Regulars of the show included:

• Kenny Slide, fiddler of the house band
• Ric Queen, drummer of the house band
• Audie Wykle, lead guitarist of the house band
• Deacon Morris, steel guitarist of the house band
• Dan Scarberry, banjo player of the house band
• Troy Herdman, rhythm guitarist of the house band

• Al Bonham
• Kenny Pugh
• Lionel Cartwright
• Patti Ramsey
• Rick Minerd, DJ at WMNI and at one time emcee of the show
• “Captain” John Gammell, began performing on the show in 1972
• Bill Jolliff
• Kevin Mabry and Liberty Street, local country and rock group – Kevin Mabry guitar/vocals; Bill Purk lead guitar/vocals; Gary Markin bass/vocals; Harold Fogle steel guitar; Victor Mabry drums – won a Country Cavalcade talent contest in 1976 as reported by the Marysville Journal-Tribute on October 8, 1976
• Debbie Fowler
• Mike O’Harra
• Patti Gaines
• Dick Shuey, Award recording artist in 1978
• Kenny Vernon, Chart recording artist
• LaWanda Lindsey, Chart recording artist
• Pat Zill
• Howard Writesel
• Tommy Hawk
• Walt Cochran and the Holly River Boys
• Chuck Howard
• Paul & Jeff Howard 
• Tex Wheeler

On March 6, 1979, the “Circleville Herald” referred to one of the regular Cavalcade Saturday shows as follows: “CAVALCADE PLANS CONCERT – The WMNI Country Cavalcade will present David Houston and the Persuaders live in concert on the Southern Theatre Stage, Columbus 8 p.m. Saturday. Also appearing will be some of the area’s finest entertainers. Newark's Debbie Fowler, Amanda’s Ken Pugh, Patti Gaines from Huntington, W. Va. and Mike O'Harra and syn¬chronizations from Columbus will round out this night of entertainment. The WMNI Country Cavalcade is presented every Saturday night.”

Our friend Bob O’Brien, who put me on the track of the Country Cavalcade, was able to track down Matt Mnich, son of Bill Mnich. Matt was kind enough to give us an insight of the show’s history, for which we are very thankful. I also appreciate Bob’s great help in bringing light to one of the lesser known stage shows. A great portion of the information came from Matt and Bob.

In 1979, the Southern Theatre was closed down as it had fallen into disrepair at that point. The closing of the theatre also meant the end for the Country Cavalcade. WMNI continued to put on live stage shows in Columbus on an infrequent basis, which were not heard over radio, however. Nevertheless, these events proofed to be successful, too, well into the 1980s.

Accompaning this post is a 12 track compilation entitled "The WMNI Country Cavalcade" put together by Bob O'Brien. This compilation includes recordings by some of the Country Cavalcade members.

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The Story of "You Can't Have My Love"

History of a Song - 

The Story of

"You Can't Have My Love"

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

1954 was a watershed year in Country Music following the death of Hank Williams. At least 50% of the Billboard Hot Country Singles could now be considered what we call "Country Classics". This isn't one of them but was very popular at the time. The song is "You Can't Have My Love" and was in the Billboard charts for eight weeks starting on July 24, 1954, reaching a peak at number eight . It generated a lot of interest and airplay and was on the jukeboxes upon its release in May of 1954. It was 17 year old Wanda Jackson's first record release as well. Here's the whole story. At the beginning of 1954, Hank Thompson had discovered Wanda Jackson on an Oklahoma City radio station, where she had a program, and added her to his band on weekends as a featured vocalist as was Billy Gray, who also played lead guitar and was the bandleader of the Brazos Valley Boys for Hank. March 22 through 24, 1954, saw Hank and the entire band in the Melrose Avenue studios of Capitol Records in L.A. On the last day of the session, Thompson booked recording time with Capitol to make demo tapes of both Wanda Jackson and Billy Gray and the duet "You Can't Have My Love" to try and influence his producer at Capitol Records, Ken Nelson, to sign them to Capitol record contracts without success. Nelson demurred for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that Wanda Jackson being underage.

A short time later, Hank Thompson was in Nashville and took a meeting with Paul Cohen, then head of Nashville's Decca Records operations and upon hearing the demo tapes signed Billy Gray and Wanda Jackson to two year contracts on Decca Records. Decca Records, at the time was the leading recording company in the USA with hundreds of records of all kinds being cranked out of their factories constantly and generating millions in revenue giving Decca the opportunity to sign unknown and untested talent, and they did so frequently. Cohen, always looking for a way to sell more records had minor league artists record a cover version for Coral Records, a subsidiary label, on April 8, 1954, to sort of hedge his bets. He did this frequently with leased records that came to Decca, so it was nothing new. Texas Bill Strength, an itinerant but well know country music D.J. and sometime country singer on Coral since 1951 and Tabby West, a converted pop music vocalist, hyped as another Kitty Wells (which she wasn't) and being on Coral since 1952, recorded their version at Bradley's Barn in Nashville and held back as a "B" side, just in case. More on that version later.

Wanda Jackson and Billy Gray - You Can't Have My Love (Decca 29140)

Billy Gray had written "You Can't Have My Love" along with co-writers listed Hank Thompson and Chuck Harding (Yeah right. editorial comment) especially as a vehicle for him and Wanda Jackson, she with her tough-as-nails vocal and his smooth recitation as counterpoint struck a true chord with everybody, especially in Oklahoma and Texas, and soon the entire country was listening to it on the radio and more importantly buying copies for jukeboxes and homes. 

The Texas Bill Strength/Tabby West version (Coral 64177) was released shortly afterwards with "With Let's Make Love Or Go Home One" as the "A" side which didn't make much headway with such a risque title for the times. The Texas Bill Strength and Tabby West "A" side was cute and had a great banjo solo very much in the style of Joe Maphis, who may or may not have played on the record.

Tabby West & "Texas" Bill Strength - You Can't Have My Love (Coral 9-64177)

The "B" side, which was "You Can't Have My Love," was also somewhat different in that it changed the girl singer's state to Missouri and cities listed were all pretty much in the Mississippi valley - Dyersburg, Tennessee; Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Cairo, Illinois (pronounced K-Row) - and a small coda was added at the end which was humorous. I have no idea why this was done except that it might appeal to record distributors and D.J.'s in those areas. Decca marketing was ahead of the field most of the time and if they could sell a few more records they would. This version actually did nothing to further the careers of Strength or West. It was Strength's last release on the label. West had one more release and then let go, only to be signed to the big label, Decca, the following year after she joined the KWTO Ozark Jubilee. A little later both Tabby West and Texas Bill Strength recorded for Capitol Records to no success. By 1961, Tabby West had gotten out of the music business. Texas Bill Strength had an unsuccessful session with Sun Records which went nowhere, but he continued on as a successful D.J. and comedian and continued to record sporadically.

The third version of this song was recorded at King Records in Cincinnati, Ohio, and produced by Henry Glover, probably after the other versions were starting to get attention by mid-July 1954 and the "Jack" in the title was probably Jack Cardwell, who recorded for King and was recording there at about the same time. It sounds like him. This is the 45 RPM recording I've owned since 1955.

Elaine Gay is something of a mystery to me. Henry Glover recorded her in 1954 and released a few records over the year on DeLuxe, a King label, including her last release of a tipid country version of "Rock Love" which was written by Henry Glover and recorded variously by Lula Reed, Little Willie John, and the big Pop version in early 1955 by the Fontane Sisters on Dot Records. A small Billboard magazine note deep in the pages of that mag, mentions that Elaine Gay was from Miami and the local Miami record distributorship was trying to make something happen for her and it just didn't happen. No other information on her has ever surfaced. Her version with Jack was a direct copy of the Wanda Jackson-Billy Gray version. Not a bad record for a cover.

Elaine Gay and Jack - You Can't Have My Love (DeLuxe 45-2022)

The song was in the Billboard charts into mid-September 1954 and was mentioned on the Billboard and Cash Box playlists on both radio and jukeboxes well into the fall.

Later on in 1954, Big 4 Hits, the mail order sound-alike EP record company also in Cincinnati, released this song as part of Big 4 Hits #98 by Eileen Nunn and Eddie Moore. This version was like the Texas Bill Strength - Tabby West version also with the coda. This was the first version I ever owned as I got a three speed record player for Christmas of 1954 and a package of 6 EP's from WCKY - also in Cincinnati - to play on the new player. That version has been long gone from me for several years, sorry to say. Early in 1955, I started buying 45 rpm records from my local distributor for the price of 10 cents apiece that never made it to his jukeboxes and started my, then, rather large 45 rpm collection, which was heavy on R&B and off-the-wall country music.

Selected Cover Versions

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

I'm sure you will enjoy this. Bob O'Brien presents his third compilation, full of "hits to curios." Great tracks here to be sure, "Sixty Minute Man" is one of them.

♫♪

track list:
1.Floyd Tillman - I Almost Lost My Mind
2. Fran Warren & Hugo Winterhalter‘s Orch. - I Almost Lost My Mind
3. Homer & Jethro - Oh Babe!
4. Dale Evans - Please Send Me Someone to Love
5. Hawkshaw Hawkins - I‘m Waiting Just for You
6. Bill Haley & his Saddlemen - Rocket 88
7. Hardrock Gunter with Roberta Lee - Sixty Minute Man
8. Bill Haley & his Saddlemen - Rock the Joint
9. Bill Haley & his Comets - Rock the Joint
10. Hawkshaw Hawkins - Got You on My Mind
11. Buddy Morrow & his Orch. - Night Train (instr.)
12. Rex Allen - Crying in the Chapel
13. June Valli - Crying in the Chapel
14. Doris Day - Secret Love
15. The McGuire Sisters - Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight
16. Johnnie & Jack - Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight
17. The Fontaine Sisters - Hearts of Stone
18. The McGuire Sisters - Sincerely
19. Ella Mae Morse - Jump Back Honey, Jump Back
20. Gene Vincent & his Blue Caps - Jump Back Honey, Jump Back
21. Johnny Burnette Trio - Honey Hush
22. BONUS Ahmad Jamal Trio - Secret Love

Rare R&B, Volume II

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

Here's the second installment of Bob O'Brien's "Rare R&B" series, another one will follow on this blog. I'm sure you will enjoy this and leave a comment, if you like it!

 ♫♫♫

1. Ivory Joe Hunter - I Almost Lost My Mind
2. Wynonie Harris - Good Morning Judge
3. Big John Greer - Got You On My Mind
4. Percy Mayfield - Please Send Me Someone to Love
5. Hadda Brooks - Brooks‘ Boogie (instrumental)
6. Fats Domino - Goin‘ Home
7. Lloyd Price - Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
8. Little Walter and his Night Cats - Juke (instrumental)
9. Roy Brown - Letter from Home
10. Ray Charles - It Should Have Been Me
11. Wynonie Harris - Bloodshot Eyes
12. The Moonglows - Secret Love
13. Sonny Till and the Orioles - Crying in the Chapel
14. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters - Work with Me Annie
15. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters - Annie Had a Baby
16. Otis Williams and the Charms - Hearts of Stone
17. Johnny Ace with Johnny Otis‘ Band - Pledging My Love
18. The Penguins - Earth Angel
19. Roy Brown - Old Age Boogie Pt. 1
20. Roy Brown - Old Age Boogie Pt. 2
21. Big Joe Turner - Honey Hush
22. Rufus Thomas, Jr. - Bear Cat
23. The Moonglows - Sincerely
24. Smiley Lewis - I Hear You Knocking
25. The Spaniels - Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight
26. BONUS The Flamingos - For All We Know

Rare R&B, Volume 1

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

Here is a nice compilation by Bob O'Brien, featuring "rare R&B" that all of you will enjoy, I'm pretty sure. Track information has been carefully researched by Bob and can be found in the original file names.

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track list:
1. Bill Doggett Combo - Big Dog, Pt. 1
2. Mildred Anderson with Bill Doggett‘s Combo - You Ain‘t No Good
3. Bill Doggett Combo - Glo‘ Glug
4. Mildred Anderson with Bill Doggett‘s Combo - Your Kind of Woman
5. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - Castle Rock
6. Anisteen Allan with Lucky Millender & his Orch. - I‘m Waiting Just for You
7. The Dominoes - Sixty Minute Man
8. Fats Domino - The Fat Man
9. Jimmy Forrest - Night Train
10. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - Night Train-All Night Long Medley
11. Big Joe Turner - Chains of Love
12. Jackie Brenston with Ike Turner‘s Band - Rocket 88
13. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - Pink Champagne
14. Julia Lee & her Boyfriends - The Spinach Song
15. Oscar McLollie & his Honey Jumpers - The Honey Jump, Pt. 1 & 2
16. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - The Honeydripper
17. Jimmy Preston & his Prestonians - Rock this Joint
18. Annie Laurie - 3 Times 7
19. Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five - Saturday Night Fish Fry
20. Big Joe Turner with Wynonie Harris - Battle of the Blues, Pt. 1
21. Wynonie Harris with Big Joe Turner - Battle of the Blues, Pt. 2
22. Big Jay McNeely - 3-D
23. Hadda Brooks - Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back
24. Wynonie Harris with Lucky Milliner & his Orch. - Oh! Babe
25. Albert Ammons, Meade ‘Lux‘ Lewis, Pete Johnson - Boogie Woogie Prayer (live)

Sophisticated Black Women and/or Tough Cookies, Part II

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan) born in Baltimore Maryland in 1915 was a jazz and pop singer with a very thin, almost waifish voice who, after a troubled childhood and playing Harlem clubs was discovered in 1935 and signed to Brunswick Records and then had major success on Columbia and Decca Records well into the 1940's, including "Solitude" featured here. "Lady Day" as she was known had a successful career, including three sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall during her lifetime and other venues including Europe and a cornacopia of solid jazz recordings right up to her death in 1959 despite the fact that her life was filled with professional and personal problems and financial problems intensified by her blatant use of alcohol and heroin, which killed her in 1959, essentially hospitalized in police custody and near penniless in a New York City hospital at age 44.Her life was a long and at times sordid story packed into those few short years which can be found elsewhere. Her music and her voice lives on, thanks be to God.


♪ Billie Holiday - Solitude

Helen Humes born in 1913 in Louisville Kentucky, the only child of a well-to-do Black couple and was raised with a solid background in church singing and piano and organ lessons. By age 14, she had the good luck to be recorded by Okeh Records and again in in 1929. at age 16. Music did not appear to be in the cards for her professionally, but a trip to Buffalo New York turned into a $35.00 a week job singing with a small group for a long while. 1936 saw Helen at the Cincinnati Cotton Club still making that $35.00 a week. Count Basie came through Cincinnati about that time and offered Helen $35.00 a week to replace the now gone Billie Holiday. She turned him down flat as she was already making an easy $35.00 a week with Al Sears and his small group whom she originally played with in Buffalo N.Y. During a gig in New York City, producer John Hammond convinced her to record 4 sides with the Harry James Orchestra and that led to four years with the aforementioned Count Basie and his band. The nearly constant touring after four years took a toll on her health and, stressed out, she quit the band in 1942. After recovering at home in Louisville, John Hammond came calling again and insisted that she return to several dates in New York City. In 1944, Helen moved to L.A. and did work at film studios and limited tours with Jazz At The Philharmonic and started to record again in an early R&B style and had a couple of hits from 1945 into 1950, but otherwise her career stagnated and after some touring in Europe and a few American Jazz Festivals, Helen retired and stayed retired in Louisville until 1973 when she returned to the Newport Jazz Festival which was followed by very successful European tours and a series of LP's for the French label Black And Blue Records, also picking up the Music Industry Of France Award in 1973 and regular engagements in New York City. Outgoing and gracious to a fault to everyone, Helen was given the Key To The City Of Louisville Ky. in 1975 as well. Helen Humes died from Cancer in 1981 in Santa Monica CA. shortly after the release of her final LP "Helen", recorded live over three evenings June 17, June 18,and June 19 1980.

♪ Helen Humes - Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness
 

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald born in Newport News Virginia in 1917, but grew up in Harlem, was to have one of the longest and successful careers in both Jazz and Popular music with 14 Grammy awards, A National Medal Of Arts, and a Presidential Medal Of Freedom at the top of her accolades. Her early years in the Depression 30's saw her in a girls reform school and street singing in Harlem for change. After winning an Amatuer Contest at the Apollo and a week with the Tiny Bradshaw & His Band at the Harlem Opera House. Ella was brought to the attention of Chick Webb, a noted bandleader who was in need of a female band singer. Reluctant to hire her right away, Ella got a try out at Yale University, and from that success came a job with Chick Webb with a lot of touring nationwide and stays at Webb's home base The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem until Webb's untimely death in 1939. At which time, Ella took over the band and kept it going through 1942 when she disbanded it for a variety of reasons not the least of which was a solo career and a movie offer. Universal Pictures put her in the Abbott & Costello film "Ride 'Em Cowboy" which also starred movie cowboys Dick Foran and Johnny Mack Brown. Ella's two songs "Rockin' And A Reelin' " and "A Tiskit A Tasket", were shot in such a way they easily be cut from copies of the film from wherever theatres in the South and elsewhere didn't want to show them. The songs were left in at various theatres around the country and in the re-releases as well. The film, being an Abbott & Costello film raked in a ton of money.

After World War 2, Ella's career hit the heights and stayed there until she was forced to retire due to ill health and diabetes in 1993. Her most notable albums were devoted to famous pop and jazz music composers and a lot of touring in America and Europe and elsewhere. She shared the stage with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and many, many more in many venues world wide and was truly a household world. Ella Fitzgerald passed away in 1996 from diabetes.

♪ Ella Fitzgerald - Putting on the Ritz

Sophisticated Black Women I

Sophisticated Black Women and/or Tough Cookies

Another Bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

This blog post is featuring 25 recordings and 25 small sketches of Sophisticated Black Ladies and/or Tough Cookies which will be fleshed out in a series of articles sans recordings in the Swedish music magazine "American Music" at a later date. "Separate But Equal" was the law of the land in the USA from civil war days until 1954 when it was struck down. Segregation however hasn't gone away, toned down maybe, but still here in various forms. Things have always been separate but never equal in the USA and in the music business in particular. These profiles are of recording artists who in ways both large and small broke through to wider audiences in America and world-wide as well. Some of these songs are quite well know and others rather obscure, but all were picked to show-case the recording artists and sometimes the menutia of the recordings selected. All were recorded between 1947 and 1980 or so for maximum sound quality. Enjoy these for the gems they are. Bobsluckycat

Jackie "Moms" Mabley born Loretta Mary Aiken in 1894 started out with a tragic childhood that included the deaths of both parents in horrific accidents and the birth of two children from rapes at a very young age and the loss of those children to the state. At 14, "Moms" ran away from home and joined a minstrel show as a comic. She traveled far and wide on the Black circuit playing clubs, theatres, and every other wide spot in the road that catered to Black folk, honing her persona of "Moms" Mabley over a 40 odd year period. She never had made a recording until November of 1949 with Pearl Bailey, when she made the attached. She was not known to white America. She had made a couple of film appearances through the years aimed at Black audiences. She, at some point, made the Apollo Theatre in New York City her "unoffical" home base and at times commanded a salary of $10,000.00 per week. She holds the record for most appearances there to this date. In 1960, a record producer took some of her tapes to Chess Records in Chicago, who sprung them on a wide white audience to great success and fame not known to her before. Mercury Records continued the series of comedy LPs into 1971. Nearly dying in 1973 from a heart attack while filming and starring in "Amazing Grace", "Moms" finished the film and saw it's release before she passed away in 1974, going out on top.

Alberta Hunter born in 1895, ran away from home at age 11 to Chicago, hoping to be a singer but took work for a dollar day in a rooming house in Chicago. Soon joined by her mother who became her manager, she was making $35.00 dollars a week singing with King Oliver's Band and touring to points in England and Europe in 1917 during World War I. Starting in 1920 and into the 1930's, Alberta recorded extensively for various recording companies in the USA and England. By 1928, Alberta was famous and appeared opposite Paul Robeson in the stage production of "Show Boat" in London. Moving her home base to London then, she played various venues in England and Europe as well as America until the outbreak of World War 2, when she again returned to a new base in New York City. She continued to be busy in the states and on Black USO tours throughout WW2 and Korea until the 1957 death of her mother. Taking 20 years out then to work as a nurse, retiring from that at 82, and took up a renewed singing career based in New York City at "The Cookery", recorded some albums for Columbia Records, toured far and wide including Europe and South America and played by invitation of the President at the White House, dying in 1984, never having ever retired.

Memphis Minnie was one tough cookie to be sure, born Lizzie "Kid" Douglas in Louisiana in 1897, raised mostly in Mississippi and ran away to Memphis at age 13 to sing on street corners off and on until the money ran out at times and then she returned home until the urge to entertain put her back on the streets of Memphis. Minnie was part of the Ringling Brothers Circus in the years from 1916 through the 1920 season and then back to Memphis' musical scene. From 1929 on for several mostly related recording companies until 1950, Minnie recorded extensively in the country blues vein and some of her recordings were just plain "white folks" country and had she not been Black, could have appeared on WSM's "Grand Ole Opry" and other such programs but didn't, couldn't or wouldn't. Take your pick. The 1952 recording, selected from the original master tape, is a cross between the old and new Blues styles being born of high fidelity and tape. Minnie could have mastered that but didn't. After a long stay in Chicago and points east and north, Minnie suffered some extensive strokes and finally passed away in 1973 in Memphis. Truly one of a kind.

Julia Lee born 1902 was a piano playing singer who joined her brother George Lee's band in and around Kansas City Missouri at the start of prohibition in 1920 and stayed with him into 1935. Female singers were relegated to doing risque and double-entendre songs and comical "coon" songs in those years. Julia Lee made them her stock in trade. She recorded for Capitol Records from 1944 into 1952 and had several which did not get airplay on white radio and not too much on Black radio, but several of her records jammed jukeboxes and sold a lot of records besides. The one selected was her last recording from 1952. Julia Lee was a local favorite in Kansas City until her untimely death from a heart attack in 1958 at age 56 just following a brief film appearance in an early Robert Altman film.

Nellie Lutcher born in 1912 in Lake Charles Louisiana to a musical family. Daddy played bass, Mama played organ in church and gave Nellie piano lessons, and brother was Joe Lutcher a noted saxophonist and big band and jazz band leader. In 1924, Nellie filled in for Ma Rainey's regular pianist, who was ill and couldn't make the date. She was 12. At 14, she joined her father in a travelling jazz band. By the mid 30's, Nellie had re-located to Los Angeles and giged around the area through World War 2. In 1947, she was signed to Capitol Records and recorded several hits through 1950 for that label. (editorial comment; I always thought that was strange. Capitol had Julia Lee already signed to the label as well as Nat "King" Cole's Trio and white artists working in the same type of music pretty much, Freddie Slack, Ella Mae Morse, and Merrill Moore . Separate but equal, again, I guess?) I would never have known of Ms. Lutcher but a local D.J. had known her from his WW2 days on the West Coast and he raved about her new recording which came out on Decca Records in 1955 and which he proceeded to played to death on the air locally to no avail. Nellie Lutcher continued to gig in the L.A. area for many years. Rich from property ownership, song copyrights and other income, she slowed things down by the becoming an officer with the local L.A. Musicians Union for several years as well. Retiring in the 1990's completely from performing, Nellie Lutcher died in 2007 of pneumonia at age 94.

Mabel Scott born in 1915 in Richmond Virginia and grew up in New York City singing Gospel music in church and by 1932 was a featured singer with Cab Calloway at the Cotton Club in Harlem. 1936 saw her playing in Cleveland and the surrounding area. Following that, Ms. Scott toured England and Europe until WW2 came along and forced her back to the USA. While in England she recorded some sides for Parlophone Records in England. Ending up on the west coast as a vocalist for The Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra for a while and then became a mainstay with Wynonie Harris at the Club Alabam in L.A. until the war ended. Post war Mabel Scott had early hits on Exclusive Records and then went with King Records, Coral and Brunswick subsidiaries of Decca Records and had no hits. The song I've selected is a R&B cover of Hank Penny's Country hit from 1951. Not happy with her career and personal life as well, Mabel Scott quit the business and returned to singing gospel music, passing away in 2000 in L.A. 

DOWNLOAD ALL FIVE SONGS HERE

The Year of the Perfect Storm

1956 - THE YEAR OF THE PERFECT STORM

by Bob O'Brien

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin! 

This is "bobsluckycat" back with my first post of 2016 for Mellow's Log Cabin and it turns back the clock 60 years to 1956. Can you believe that? 60 years. To what I consider to be the year of the "perfect storm" of rock-n-roll and probably music recorded and otherwise in general. The music charts were pretty separate on purpose. The 45 RPM record was now the record of choice and by the following year the 78 RPM stalwart of records was declared obsolete by the R.I.A.A. and was ceased to be manufactured for the most part.

The jukebox industry was retooling to 45's as well and along with the old standby Wurlitzer, the jukeboxes of Rockola, Seeburg, and Rowe AMI were being manufactured in large numbers and forms and distributed far and wide across the land. These were state of the art Hi-Fidelity machines and some could play both sides of the record by just pushing a button to play. For five cents a song, it was the cheapest entertainment in the land. The built in counters also kept a running count of was being played and more importantly what wasn't being played and could be replaced more or less weekly.

It goes without saying that a lot of the jukebox operators, recording companies and in a lot of cases, artists themselves were controlled and/or influenced by organized criminal elements. Any record from a pressing of 200 copies to 2,000,000 copies could be a local, regional, or national hit depending on the cash flow going out and coming in.

There was a glut of 45's on the market, all looking for sales and jukebox plays took a lot of that. Mostly, it was a teenage buyers market. Country music and R&B had their niches and both did alright but nothing like the mainstream of American Popular Music which was now Rock-n-Roll. The 12" LP was marketed to the adult record buying public and those co-existed with everything else out there because a lot of money available in these affluent times to buy records and record players, televisions and the like. A popular cartoon in a 1956 humor magazine depicted a disk jockey in head-phones shaking out a manila envelope of money and a 45 RPM record onto his turntable with the caption "Now here's a little number making itself heard around these parts." It was funny, but also very true. How much so, we'll never know.

1956 was the year that rock-n-roll artists dominated the Billboard Top Twenty for the year. 1955 by comparison had none. The list of songs I'm going to present here is a mélange of hit songs from 1956 with my comments.

First of all, let's deal with the elephant in the room, Elvis Presley. We all know his story so there is no need to retrace it here. Norman Nite, noted early Disk Jockey and rock-n-roll historian in his book "Rock On Almanac" published by Harper And Row in 1989 states, "1956 is the year of Elvis Presley. His accomplishments during that year are monumental: He had 17 charted songs, five of which went to number 1, spending a total of 25 weeks at number 1, 16 of which were consecutive. Presley made 11 national television appearances and a debut motion picture role in "Love Me Tender". No other performer in the history of rock-n-roll will ever come close to matching this." What I have chosen to use is Elvis's first TV appearance from January 28, 1956 on the CBS program "Stage Show", which was not watched by huge hordes, but was the first to expose him to a national audience. Previous to this, Presley was known primarily in the Memphis, Shreveport, Nashville loop and not always well received, truth be told. The rest, as they say, is history. I first heard Elvis in early January 1956, when RCA Victor re-issued his last Sun recording Sun 223 as RCA-Victor 6357 "Mystery Train" and I thought it was good but I wasn't that impressed. I couldn't have been more wrong.

♫ Listen to: Elvis Presley - Shake, Rattle & Roll / I Got a Woman (live at CBS "Stage Show")

You can't speak about Elvis Presley without discussing Carl Perkins, a label mate at Sun Records in 1955. Sam Phillips released "Blue Suede Shoes" on January 01, 1956 to immediate success and while it seemed more "country" than not, went to the top of all three charts within the month. Presley covered the song on television live four times and his version of the song was different, more intense may be the word. On March 21st, on the way to New York City to appear on the Saturday night Perry Como where Perkins was going to break his new record "Boppin' The Blues" b/w "All Mama's Children" Sun 45-245 to a national audience and receive a gold record for "Blue Suede Shoes" on the strength of 550,000 copies sold. That never happened. On the way to New York, Perkins and his entourage were in a horrific car crash near Dover Delaware in which Carl Perkins was seriously injured and would require months of care and rehabilitation. His brother Jay would die from it.

Sam Phillips beyond it's initial run, in so far as I can tell, stopped production on Sun 45-245 completely and threw everything into the production and shipping of another 500,000 copies of "Blue Suede Shoes", which made it a million seller and true gold record. "Boppin' The Blues" on the other hand due to lack of product and promotion died on the vine. It was #47 on the Cashbox Pop Singles Chart, #9 on the Billboard Country Chart, and #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, albeit all briefly and by June of 1956 was gone. Perkins had a few minor hits over the next number of years and was member of Johnny Cash's Group as well and finally was recognized as a "grand old man" of rock-n-roll by the Beatles and the rest of the world. 

♫ Listen to: Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes
♫ Listen to: Carl Perkins - Boppin' the Blues
Buchanan & Goodman had a satire of rock-n-roll radio which was still in all pretty much right on the money as a template for rock-n-roll radio and it was funny. Of course everybody sued but the courts, by late 1956, decided in Buchanan & Goodman's favor and the record went to #3 on the charts and sold over a million copies. It's still funny.

♫ Listen to: Buchanan & Goodman - The Flying Saucer (1956)

Bill Haley and the Comets
(Decca Records promotion picture)

All the rock-n-roll icons are here from 1956. Starting with Bill Haley & The Comets, who broke into the Pop music charts in 1953 with "Crazy Man Crazy" on Essex Records, were signed by Decca Records in 1954 and had a slew of hits in 1954 and 1955 including "Rock Around The Clock", "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" and many others. In January of 1956, Haley & The Comets filmed the first rock-n-roll movie "Rock Around The Clock", which was produced by Sam Katzman on a small budget for Columbia Pictures and it grossed $4,000,000 dollars. The second film was filmed in September 1956 also on a small budget by Sam Katzman and was released in December of 1956 and the gross was only $1,200,000 dollars. The balloon had burst by now, except in Europe, and except for a few minor hits, Bill Haley And The Comets were passé.

♫ Listen to: Bill Haley & the Comets - See You Later, Alligator
♫ Listen to: Bill Haley & the Comets - Rudy's Rock

Fats Domino started putting out hits starting in 1949 and continued to do so through the end of his Imperial Records contract in 1962. He had a few million sellers in the first 6 years of his contract, but they were known only on the R&B Charts and Black radio and maybe a few white record dealers, but not the white general population as a whole. That all changed in 1956 with the release of a few old Pop standards Domino recorded also with his regular R&B recordings, all of which topped both charts Pop and R&B for the entire year. "Blueberry Hill" was an obvious instant classic. By the first three or four notes, everybody immediately recognized it. Rolling Stone magazine in compiling the 500 greatest hits of all time listed it at #82.

♫ Listen to: Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill 

Chuck Berry came on strong in 1956 with a string of recordings on Chess Records, only "Roll Over Beethoven" in mid summer was a top 20 Pop hit record and became a Gold Record besides but all now are considered classics.

♫ Listen to: Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven

Little Richard claims to have started it all. He didn't of course, but his strong appearances in the film "The Girl Can't Help It" where he sang "The Girl Can't Help It", "She's Got It" and "Reddy Teddy", which was a two sided hit b/w "Rip It Up", helped keep him high on the Pop and R&B Charts for the entire year and garnered him a gold record. Elvis Presley covered "Rip It Up," "Reddy Teddy" and Long Tall Sally" on his second LP "Elvis" to great advantage. Bill Haley & The Comets covered "Rip It Up" in their second film "Don't Knock The Rock' and now 60 years later the question is still why? Little Richard also appeared in this film but his song selections were now passé and off the charts by the time the movie came out, "Tutti-Fruitti" and "Long Tall Sally".

♫ Listen to: Little Richard - Ready Teddy
The Bill Doggett Combo had been recording R&B and Jazz-flavored instrumentals for King Records for a while when this instrumental "Honky Tonk" became not only a late summer hit and gold record, but it lingered on the charts for several weeks and on radios and jukeboxes for several years and became "THE" classic instrumental of 1956, without peer.

♫ Listen to: Bill Doggett Combo - Honky Tonk (Part 1 & 2)

Don Cherry's recording of "Band Of Gold" was a great Pop dance tune and struck a nerve with teens and adults alike and it stayed in the charts for a long time. A dance favorite and his only gold record. Previously a big band singer, Cherry had a few pop hits as the "3 D's" on Coral Records with Johnny Desmond and Alan Dale. A happy-go-lucky sort, he later recorded for Monument Records and became a golf pro and not too successful at either one.

♫ Don Cherry - Band of Gold

The Flamingoes

The Flamingoes had a hit in January 1956 which was covered by Pat Boone. The song refers to getting out of the military, since the draft was still in place at the time. The Flamingoes had bad management and broke up for a time. Later in the 50's they re-grouped and had minor hits on minor labels, but never regained their place and a lot of money supposedly coming to them never came.

♫ Listen to: The Flamingoes - I'll Be Home

Otis Williams & The Charms had the first hit with "Ivory Tower" early in 1956 on the R&B Charts. Cathy Carr and Gale Storm both covered it on the Pop charts and had better sales and air-play. I like this version better.

♫ Listen to: Otis Williams & the Charms - Ivory Tower

In the midst of all this rockin' and rollin' in mid-March at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City, the now classic musical "My Fair Lady" opened to great reviews and wildly enthusiastic audiences and it ran for 6 years. The Original Cast Album was one of the top LP's of 1956 with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews and several Pop music singers and bands including Vic Damone, Percy Faith & His Orch. and Sammy Kaye and His Orch. among many others put out cover recordings and they were heard everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. Rosemary Clooney was the first to take a song from the musical up the charts in May of 1956. Looking back, the record is somewhat over produced. Rosemary Clooney, however, is perfect.

♫ Listen to: Rosemary Clooney - I Could Have Danced All Night

Following up "Only You" and "My Prayer" in 1955, the Platters in early 1956 released a two-sided hit entitled "The Magic Touch" b/w "Winner Take All" both were equally requested at dances as they were great dance numbers, well into late 1956.

♫ Listen to: The Platters - The Magic Touch
♫ Listen to: The Platters - Winner Take All
Morris Stoloff had been on the staff at Columbia Pictures in the music department since 1936 and this set piece from the film "Picnic" just sort of grabbed everybody who saw the film. It was a great piece of music to be sure and well arranged and stayed on the Pop Charts for 27 weeks and a lot of that was at #2. A great dance tune again for teens and adults. Great Stars in the cast, Kim Novak and William Holden, but otherwise a turgid movie.

♫ Listen to: Morris Stoloff with the Columbia Pictures Orch. - Moonglow (Theme from Picnic)

"Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus was the kind of novelty record that the first time I heard it in June of 1956 had to ask myself "What was that!". It was a very funny record that got a lot of air play and sold a lot of records for a short while. Included here just for fun and to color the blog another shade or so. Indulge me.

♫ Listen to: Nervous Norvus - Transfusion

Briefly, The Five Satins had a big summer dance hit of "In The Still Of The Night". You heard it, you danced to it and it became an early "Oldies" classic and it garnered a gold record, but you can't remember too much about it. Pure nostalgia. 

♫ Listen to: The Five Satins - In the Still of the Night

Laverne Baker's biggest hit record was a rockin' "Jim Dandy" and it received a gold record by late 1956. It was brought back in December of 1973 by a group called Black Oak Arkansas and was a hit all over again to a much different audience.

♫ Listen to: Laverne Baker - Jim Dandy

"The Green Door" was a Pop novelty record in late summer/early fall of 1956 with funny lyrics and harpsichord solo and went to Number 1 on the charts and earned a gold record. Mostly forgotten today but still worth a listen.

♫ Listen to: Jim Lowe - The Green Door

In many ways, Johnny Cash was to Country music what Elvis was to practically everything else in 1956. His second recording, 1955's "Folsom Prison Blues" bled over into the top of the Country charts in early 1956, peaking at #4. Cash had a new style from traditional Country, Bluegrass, and Western Swing popular then as now, but his music was a minimum of instrumentation and featuring a lot of rhythm. The subject matter of his songs was definitely Country. "I Walk The Line" was recorded on April 2, 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis and released as Sun 45-241 on May 1, 1956 and it was an instant radio hit and jukebox hit as well. A person heard it everywhere and there was no doubt that it would be a country Classic at some point, but bookings were another thing and while "I Walk The Line" was a Country #1 by mid-summer it didn't cross over to the Pop music chart until late fall and went to #17 and staying there for 3 weeks with a minimum of national TV exposure. It was all personal appearances and radio and jukeboxes and pure hard work getting wide exposure. Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Records, had a lot on his plate in 1956 and if he had had less there, maybe he would have promoted Johnny Cash more than he did. In any case, when Columbia Records came calling in 1958, Johnny Cash couldn't wait to sign on the dotted line and, as they say, the rest is history.

♫ Listen to: Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line

Sonny Knight had the voice of a white teenage heart throb, and if all you heard was the voice then Mr. Knight would have been huge. As it was, Sonny Knight was actually Joe Smith, a black man over 21 who had been on the fringes of the Los Angles R&B scene off and on since 1953, recording without much success for the Aladdin and then the Specialty record companies. I heard "Keep A Walkin'" on Specialty #547 in late 1955 and I just assumed he was a white guy and I didn't find out different until much later. He finally clicked in late 1956 with "Confidential" which went to #17 on the charts in mid-December 1956, heavily promoted and probably for a piece of the action by Art LaBoe a disk jockey on KPOP in L.A. When the truth came out in 1957, Sonny Knight was a victim of racial backlash and his bookings pretty well dried up. He continued to record into the 1960's and after moving to Hawaii found a modicum of success, but he was extremely bitter about it and wrote a very ugly book about the beginnings of his career.

♫ Listen to: Sonny Knight - Confidential

Recorded in October of 1956 "I Ain't Got No Home" by nineteen year old Clarence "Frogman" Henry became a hit novelty in December 1956 and since then has gone into the mainstream of American music from use in movies, television, radio, and covers by many people, most notably by Carl Mann on Phillips International Records. Henry is still active in music in New Orleans and environs as I write this.

♫ Listen to: Clarence "Frogman" Henry - I Ain't Got No Home

Screamin' Jay Hawkins before his hit recording
of "I Put a Spell on You."

Screamin' Jay Hawkins owes his career to being drunk. He recorded for the Epic division of Columbia Records as a mainstream R&B artist. Everybody in the studio in September of 1956 was drunk on cheap wine when this take of "I Put A Spell On You" was recorded in New York City. Epic decided to release it and it became the strangest rock-n-roll record to ever make the charts. Persuaded by Alan Freed to use the "jungle man" persona to the hilt with assorted turbans, capes and animal skins and sometimes coffins as props. Hawkins said goodbye to R&B and laughed all the way to the bank for a number of years as a comedian more than a serious singer.

♫ Listen to: Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You

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