'Long about '78 I had the pleasure of joining my buddies Frank Cox, Joe and Chris Marchese, and (if I'm remembering correctly) Bill Ramsey, in John Roberts's revival of his early '60's band The Rebels (we were "The New Rebels.")
We had a lot of fun, and it got me thinking about how much cool music there was between the birth of rock'n'roll and the time The Beatles came along. There was stuff coming out of Memphis,
Cleveland, doowop from the street corners of Philly, Chicago and Baltimore; beach music from Carolina. But there was also some interesting music coming from our own part of the world. Any band making a buck had to do a little of everything.
John and his compadres had been a popular item in the early '60's, playing the Shamrock, frat houses and other venues in and around Fayetteville and the UofA. Playing some of the tunes that were part of that culture was a great part of my musical education.
So I've asked John and a few of the folks who were around back then (and during the revival) to help recreate some of that repertoire. Songs that might have rocked the Shamrock, or maybe the Silver Moon in Newport and any number of other regional clubs where rock'n'roll was beginning to sprout pubic hairs.
So here's what I'm going to do: Name a few songs that came from that time period. Then you comment with others. There are some obvious tunes, from the likes of Elvis, Carl Perkins, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. But how about the the regional and less popular stuff. What songs do you remember? What songs would have rocked the Shamrock, Tee Table or Silver Moon. In the interest of expedience I'll leave off orginal artists...
40 Days
Great Big Idol with the Golden Head
Stay
Mother In Law
Haunted House
Raunchy
Rebel Rouser
Oopoopadoo
Treat Her Right
Silhouettes
Walking the Dog
Searchin'
Anything by Fats Domino
(My Gal is) Red Hot
Ooby Dooby
Tennessee Stud
High Heel Sneakers
Speedo
60 Minute Man
Goodnight Sweetheart
Ruby Baby
Party Doll
What other tunes would you suggest?
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7 comments:
Ed:
Here are a few more from my early set lists (mostly pre-Fab Four:
What'd I Say
Can't Turn You Loose
Oh Boy
Jailhouse Rock
Knock On Wood
Ramshackle Shack
Black And Blue
Charlie Brown
The Green Door
Only You
Honky Tonk
I'm In Love Again
Stagger Lee
Since I Met You Baby
Louie Louie
Peppermint Twist
Dancin' In The Street
Hey! Baby
Tossin' and Turnin'
You Talk Too Much
Personality
Walkin' The Dog
Walk Don't Run
Tequila
Great Blog Idea!
jm
From my friend Larry Reynolds in Nashville:
Youngblood
Bird Dog
Jailhouse Rock
Honey D'ont
It's Over
Big Boss Man
North To Alaska
Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
Travelin' Man
Cryin' in the Rain
From Frank Cox
Maybe Baby
Peggy Sue
Other Buddy Holley songs
Tower of Strength (would need a new arrangement)
Act Naturally
Little Sister (Elvis/Dwight)
Shakin' All Over
Summertime Blues
Blue Suede Shoes
From Jimmy Lefler
Go little Honda
Tell me goodbye
Purple people eater
Wake up little suzie
Walk right in , sit right down
And absolutely anything Jerry Lee did, The Killer rules!
Oh yes 16 tons
how about:
Rumble - Link Wray
Sleep Walk - Santo & Johnny
Framed - The Robins
Earth Angel - The Penguins
That'll Be the Day - Buddy Holly
La Bamba - Richie Valens
Anything by the Coasters.
From Rob:
Haven't figured out the subscription yet, but here are a few I didn't note on the list: Red Headed Woman (Sonny Burgess & the Pacers); Fourty Days and Who Do You Love (The Hawk); Harlem Nocturne (Viscounts); Ooh Poo Pah Doo (Jesse Hill); You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Righteous Bros.); Bo Diddley; Baby What You Want Me To Do (Reed); Money (Barrett Strong); Turn On Your Love Light (Bland); Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On, Great Balls Of Fire and more (The Killer); Kansas City (Harrison); Doggin' Around (J. Wilson); Shout (Isley Bros); Sick and Tired (Various); Greenback Dollar (Kingston Trio); Dimples (Hooker) also titled I've Got My Eyes On You; Do You Wanna Dance (Freeman); Only the Lonely , Pretty Woman and more (Orbison); Oh Boy, Not Fade Away and more (Holly); Lil Liza Jane (Various); Skinny Minnie (Haley); Blue Velvet (Clovers); Don't You Just Know It (Smith); My Babe (Little Walter); Mary Lou (The Hawk); Summertime Blues (Cochran); Sticks and Stones (Charles); Please, Please, Please, Lost Someone, I'll Go Crazy, You Got The Power and more (Brown); Green Onions (Booker T). I can come up with many more, but will desist for now. The Righteous Bros. was post-Beatles. One of my personal favorites from the Shamgod days was Lafferty and the Jokers rendition of When My Little Girl Is Smiling. I mentioned no Chuck Berry ... there were so many ... but Memphis should be included if not already mentioned. So much by Holly and Fats. Seems like Hank Ballard and the Midnighters made contributions ... Sexy Ways, Finger Poppin' Time ... of course he wrote The Twist and charted with it before Chubby Checker. One more please ... the break tune for more than one band was Freddy King's Hideaway.
From John Roberts:
Rattle Shackle Shack
Jamie
Sick and Tired
40 Days
Chuck Berry Medley (Johnny B. Goode, Roll Over Beethoven, Little Queenie)
Thousand Miles Away
Who Do You Love
Black and Blue
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