February 6, 2008

  • Contact from a RnR Legend

    I am enough of a kid to really enjoy this. I just got an e-mail from Dale “Susie-Q” Hawkins, whom I met in Green Bay last May at the Rockin’s 50s Festival. It’s him, all right; he said enough stuff to let me know it’s the same guy! He is a very nice person, as were all the other RrR pioneers I met: Marvin Rainwater, Speedo of Speedo and the Cadillacs, Wanda Jackson, Larry and Laurie Collins, the Crickets – Wow!

October 28, 2006

  • The Amateur Hour DVD

    (See Post for August 10) 

     It came! It’s here! I saw it! It’s great! It’s the whole show, commercials and all! Whatta rip! Me at 15! ( Yes, I was once fifteen!) The quality is excellent. What a treasure, to see my dad at 48, and unbeknownst to me, scared to death! I was having the time of my life and it shows! What a big grin I had during our whole performance! It’s funny how my memory of the performance is different than the DVD shows. I thought I was on stage right; I was on stage left. I could not have identified my girlfriend for the day, Carol Barber of Columbia, Missouri, from a photograph, and she didn’t look like I remembered her. I had never really seen the other acts on the show in performance because we were in the green room before and after our performance, coming out only for the final bow. Our competition was all really good! I never heard of any of them again, so I guess none of them found fame and fortune, but I didn’t either! Anyhow, only my wife has seen it. I am still waiting to show it to my kids! Thanks a bunch, Mr. Fisher!

October 11, 2006

  • Just Not Enough Hours

    All these wonderful things happening that I want to be involved in ( in which I want to be involved?), and they are occupying the same time frame, but not the same location!  Case in point: a popular Christian radio personality who has a weekly radio program counseling teens is going to be in our area for a fund-raising dinner tomorrow night.  I am a supporter of his ministry and was really looking forward to meeting him. But: a family-oriented issue takes precedence, and I am going to be spending the evening with my fireball grandson while his parents attend back-to-school night for my granddaughter. She is actually my step-granddaughter, but we sure don’t think of her that way. She is a gutsy young lady who is coming into her own; one of those people you can watch blossom and be in awe of her intellect and developing poise. Evan is always fun, if a bit exhausting, so the time with him will be very special. I was hoping to get together with the radio personality maybe for breakfast the next day, but apparently that isn’t going to happen either. Oh, well……

    Well, now I got another one. A well-known Christian performer is coming to our area in November with his band, a member of which has a Xanga page to which I subscribe and who is kind of, sort of, in a way,. a cyber-friend. (Check out “sites I read”.) I am doing some volunteer work for a local radio statiion at the concert. I hope to get a chance to say hi in person, unless she runs screaming from the building! I’m a scary old guy! What happens on the same day at the same time, 80 miles away?  My buddy Crazy Joe Tritschler and guitar wizard Deke Dickerson are doing a show in Glenside, PA. These are guys I met in Memphis and will probably not see again until next May in Green Bay! It’s gonna be a dynamite show! Deke is one of the world’s nicest guys. These guys are great musicians and I would sure like to be there.  check out www.dekedickerson.com)

    Well, the Christian performer wins ( his initals are MWS) and Evan gets his grandfather for an evening. Tomorrow is another day  (with probably more scheduling conflicts!)

September 20, 2006

  • A World of Comics Fantasy

    Oh, man! I am such an emotional basket case sometimes! With all the trouble in the world, I ACTUALLY CARE about Jon Arbuckle’s romance with Garfield’s Vet, Liz. Jon has been the ultimate nerd for such a long time, with the fashion sense of a marmoset and the romance potential of a pet rock, that it is refreshing to see him in a romantic relationship, and witness his joy and slight confusion as to why this is happening to him, after so many failures.

    I am also really enjoying the latest episodes of  “Doonesbury,” where Alex, the wunderkind of Mike Doonesbury, is adjusting to college life at either M.I.T or Walden College, I can’t figure out which. She talks about M.I.T, but is seen at freshman orientation at Walden, so maybe I missed an episode or two. I have also been following the progess of B.D., as he deals with his Iraq-induced post-traumatic stress syndrome and the loss of his leg. The insights into the therapy he has been receiving as a wounded vet have been nothing short of incredible. He has gone from a bitter, dream-haunted part-recluse with violent outbursts to a guy who is about to have his prosthesis painted. Would that it were that easy for our returning servicemen, and, of course, B.D. is a long-running character in the strip, so he can’t stay emotionally crippled forever. But Garry Trudeau is giving us a brilliantly-conceived scenario.

    Getting involved in fantastic stories can also have its downside, too. Have you ever seen the movie ” Ghost,” with Patrick Swayze and Whoopie Goldberg? I have too, once. I just can’t watch the end. I run from the room sobbing. The sense of loss is just too great. Yes, I KNOW it’s a movie, and Patrick Swayze is alive and kicking, thank you very much.   Makes no difference; I cannot even talk about it without choking up really badly.

    A dear friend of mine says I cry when the shampoo works well. I know I am also going to come apart at the seams when I see my dad on that Kinescope recording of the Original Amateur Hour from 1958, since Dad died in 1969 at 59.

    I am also upset at the plight of a beautiful little calico kitten I saw who has a progressive eye condition which will blind her without treatment, and I know she won’t get the care she needs and will not survive. I would love to save her and get her taken care of, but we have three rescue cats already, all of whom have their own needs.

    Sometimes it’s really tough. 

August 13, 2006

  • Starfires Gig

    The Starfires played a four-hour gig up in Harvey’s Lake, PA on Friday night, August 11. Here we are, wailing away!


     



    From left is me, Roger, Steve ( barely visible in back), Bob, Eddie and Chuck ( AKA Charlie) R. J., the drummer didn’t make it into this one,



    Nor this one, with Roger and me,


     



    but he did make it here, out from behind the drums. He is on the right in this shot.. By the way, that is a Minarik Inferno I am playing!


     


     

August 10, 2006

  • Amateur Hour (blast from the past)

    This is unbelievable, and  I am so psyched! A little background first. When I was much younger, I realized that  I could entertain people by performing in some fashion. I tried to learn various methods of entertainment, including playing the rhythm bones, a skill my dad had picked up in college and taught me. There is now an international club dedicated to bones playing. Of course I belong.


    Anyhow, through a set of circumstances I don’t quite remember, I wound up auditioning for Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour, a national TV show. The producers wound up incorporating my dad into the act, as a father-and-son performance, in honor of Father’s Day, and we actually appeared on the Amateur Hour, June 7, 1958. This was before the days of VCRs, DVDs, and the other alphabet soup of electronica, so I thought it was a once-and-done thing. Somebody once sold me a record with our performance on it, I did a few shows for some veterans’ hospitals, and that was that, or so I thought.  Joe Bennett told me that all the old kinescope films were stored in the Library of Congress, where they sat, deteriorating, unavailable to the public.  The Sparkletones had appeared on the show, too, and Joe told me that he happened to secure a copy of a recording of their performance, a very rare occurence. I would have loved to get a copy of our appearance, but could not imagine how this could be done.


     


    Well, guess what? Albert Fisher, of Fisher Television Productions, Inc.,who was involved in the production of the show, ( he is listed as a writer) has established an account with the Library of Congress, and has access to his archives. I contacted Mr. Fisher, and he does have a listing of our performance and the archive of that performance, and has ordered a copy of that show for me. It is VERY expensive, because of the careful processing and restoration of the fragile film. As a very magnanimous gesture, he is not charging anything for his services, so all charges are based upon the work of the Library of Congress. Considering what is involved, I can understand the high cost, and there is no way I could ever obtain such an item on my own. It should take 8 to 10 weeks. Check out the website on www.originalamateurhour.com.

July 27, 2006

  • Crazy Joe

    I love getting to know people, and I have a new cyberfriend. Crazy Joe Tritschler, the Pride of Dayton, Ohio, and his band, the Mad River Outlaws, are burning up the rockabilly airwaves. I met Joe in Memphis, and had no idea he was crazy. He appeared onstage with Sonny Burgess and with the incredible Herb Remington, one of the giants of the steel guitar.Wearing a short-sleeve white shirt and tie, he looked like an engineering student who plays mean guitar, which he is. Then his new EP was profiiled in Blue Suede News, and I recognized him. One thing led to another and now we are e-mail buddies. I am enough of a kid to get a tremendous kick out of making this contact. So; Now: his website is www.maderiveroutlaws.com, the myspace page is www.myspace.com/madriveroutlaws, ( listen to ”Mary Ann;” that’s him singing and playing lead guitar) and you can get his albums on www.atomrecords.com,  or amazon.com.. That guitar in the photos was made especially for him. It’s the Crazy Joe Triphonic Guitar; one of a kind. So is Joe!  

July 20, 2006

  • Visiting Other Xanga Sites

    I actually have more important stuff to post than this, but a thought just struck my fancy. ( No harm done; just a slight contusion.) As many of us Xangers do, I subscribe to certain sites maintained by people I find interesting. Folks who are touring and working on their album, folks writing poetry that cannot be sung to the tune of “The Old Gray Mare,” folks off on esoteric tangents or taking weird surveys…anyway, people with whom I have crossed cyber-paths. So, on a regular basis, I get subscription digests e-mailed to me.  Naturally I have to see what they have written and decide if I have anything to add. Many times I discover that others have read and added to the posts. On occasion, I get interested in the person behind that other Xanga site, and I go look at their site. It is usually a pretty interesting experience, seldom dull, often enlightening. I don’t dare subscribe to their site too, or I would have digests numbering several pages! But it’s fun to visit! 

May 27, 2006

  • MEMPHIS

    Several entries back, I said that I was going to Memphis for the Ponderosa Stomp, a celebration of rockabilly and early rock’n'roll normally held in New Orleans, but held this year in Memphis for the benefit of residents of New Orleans, particularly musicians from the Big Easy, I expect, who are having a tough go of it. After all, they are entertainers, and New Orleans residents and visitors are still trying to get to the point of enjoying and providing entertainment. Hats off to Winfield Scott “ Scotty” Moore for his part in making the festival possible


     I drove from Pennsylvania to Memphis, about 955 miles or so, starting Saturday, May 6, 2006 and getting there Sunday, May 7, at about 2:30 in the afternoon. It was about a 15-hour drive, with an overnight stay in Harriman. Beautiful weather; beautiful state. It is easy to fall in love with Tennessee. The highways are very good and the people are great. Even the gasoline is less expensive, the food is very reasonable and often comes with extras. The Shoney’s restaurant on Sycamore View Road saw a lot of me.


    I did take some photos, and I am not sure how to group them, so I will post them and do the best I can.


    First, Beale Street, a happenin’ location that was having its own blues celebration at the same time as the Stomp about three blocks away.



     


    Second, the outside of a restaurant owned by B.B. Somebody. From the level of sound emanating from there, the thrill is definitely NOT gone!



     


    Next, some performance photos. I will never be a professional photographer, because I can never get close enough to my subject. I am always afraid of distracting someone or blocking someone’s view of the performance. Real photographers, it seems, are never afraid of sticking their camera lenses up somebody’s nostril, no matter whose view they block and for how long. Consequently, they get some great photos. Sorry, that’s not me. I will continue to get lousy, dark distant photos because I am not going to be intrusive. More power to those who can do it. I am simply not one of them.


    I changed my mind. I am just going to post some photos, some performance, some not.



     


    Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers, with Deke Dickerson sitting in on guitar ( in red). Sonny is 74! Can he rock! Holy cow! He blew the lid off the place. Deke is great on guitar, too. These are two very talented and classy gentlemen.


     



     


    The great D.J. Fontana, Elvis’s drummer, holding down the beat for Sonny Burgess. It was great to hear two SUN recording stars playing together.



     


    What a thrill THIS was. I got to meet and chat with the great Winfield Scott ” Scotty” Moore, one of the giants of rock music. Scotty was Elvis’s original guitar player, and is responsible for all those great guitar leads on the earlier Elvis records. When you hear Keith Richards say that he wanted to be Scotty Moore, THIS is the guy he is talking about. Sensing that I would understand, Scotty said to me, “You know, sometimes this is still fun.” That was great, coming from Scotty, who was not well-treated by the Elvis Presley organization, and has had many health problems in recent years. But Scotty has continued as a generous humanitarian, also being involved in New Orleans disaster relief. Thanks Scotty, for allowing me the pleasure of spending a few minutes with you.


     



    If I had to pick one reason out of all the others to drive to Memphis, it would be to have met this man. James Burton, from Shreveport, LA, is the guy who did such brilliant guitar work on Ricky Nelson’s hit records, who was a member of the Shindogs on the TV show “Shindig,” and who, from 1969 to 1977, was the leader of Elvis’s stage band in Las Vegas. I heard him play, I met him, and I am here to tell you that this is one of the nicest, most humble persons I have ever met. He is a true class act and what a guitarist! James could tell this was a very special moment for me, and he was most gracious. Many thanks, James! Check out his page on the Rockabilly Hall of Fame website, sponsored by…uh…ME!



     


    This is my third guitar hero. Although not as well-known as Scotty and James, Eddie Angel is a major force in the field of rockabilly and surf guitar. Eddie plays and records with Los Straitjackets, the Neanderthals, the Planet Rockers, and several other groups and artists, lending his unique guitar artistry to their music. I have known Eddie for a number of years and it is a privilege to know him. When I told him I was putting his photo in with Scotty and James, he said, ” You’re putting me in some heavy company, man!” He always calls me “Man,” which is technically true. It is also true that Scotty and James are heavy company, but Eddie deserves the recognition also. He is generally regarded as one of the best in the business, and that’s good enough for me! Eddie wasn’t there to perform. He was just hanging out and networking with other musicians. He is one of the guys whom I wish I could play like. Okay, why am I holding a cane? I was at that point in my second glorious week of gout, so I was smiling through my pain!


    Although each of the guys has done a lot of recording, I decided to spotlight Eddie’s album, which I have. He does a great job on “Buzz-Buzz-a-Diddle-It.”


     

April 23, 2006