Instrumentals were popular in the Fifties and remained so well into the Sixties. “Sleepwalk” was the sixth number one instrumental of the rock era and the second in 1959. Instrumentals continued to be popular throughout much of the Sixties, but … Continue reading →
The song that celebrates the three great events in each of our lives, our birth, our marriage and our death, “The Three Bells” goes back to France in 1945. The song was originally called “Les Trois Cloches” (which means “The … Continue reading →
Now we have Elvis’ twelfth number one of his career. “A Big Hunk of Love” was written by Aaron Schroeder and Sid Wyche who also went by the name of Sid Jaxon. It was recorded by Elvis during the one … Continue reading →
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00772I9V6 Paul Anka started acting in films in 1958 with the teen movie, Let’s Rock. The description of this movie says it is about a singer’s girlfriend who helps him adjust to the new rock ‘n’ roll music. It seems … Continue reading →
The last battle of the War of 1812 was fought in 1815 when General Andrew Jackson defeated the British in a battle at New Orleans, Louisiana. A folk song was written about the battle called “The Eighth of January.” Many … Continue reading →
For a couple of white guys, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote great music for black artists and, in the case of Elvis Presley, a white artist that sounded like a black artist. (They wrote Hound Dog not particularly for … Continue reading →
Dave “Baby” Cortez was born David Cortez Clowney in Detroit, Michigan in 1938. He started playing the piano at a young age and became something of a prodigy. He wrote “The Happy Organ” with a different title, “A Dog and … Continue reading →
The Fleetwoods were made up of two girls and a guy. The girls were Gretchen Christopher and Barbara Ellis who knew each other most of their lives. In fact they grew up in the same neighborhood and played together as … Continue reading →
It probably won’t surprise anyone to learn that Frankie Avalon is not his real name, although his real name is not that different. He was born Francis Thomas Avallone in 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his youth he wanted to … Continue reading →
Lloyd Price is from the New Orleans school of rock and roll. He has that in common with many other performers, most notably Fats Domino. He was born March 9, 1933 in the Big Easy and was interested in music … Continue reading →