Some Figures From The 1950's & 60's

Peter Tork ~ Bassist, singer and multi-instrumentalist for the Monkees, he didn't sing on many of their hits ("Auntie Grizzelda" being an exemption) but he did play an variety of stringed and keyed instruments including bass, guitar, piano, organ, harpsichord, banjo and sitar.

THE MONKEES ~ "YOUR AUNTIE GRIZZELA";


THE MONKEES ~ "WHAT AM I DOING HANGING ROUND";


PETER TORK ~ "HIGHER & HIGHER";


PETER TORK ~ "Solfeggietto"



Paul Whaley ~ drummer for Blue Cheer, the first Metal band. Also the first Thrash band & first Stoner Rock band. I saw and interviewed them years ago and they sounded the same;

BLUE CHEER ~ "SUMMERTIME BLUES";


BLUE CHEER ~ "FEATHERS FROM YOUR TREE";


BLUE CHEER ~ "SATISFACTION";



Dean Haydcock ~ Bassist with 1960's UK band the Hollies

THE HOLLIES ~ "LOOK THROUGH ANY WINDOW";


THE HOLLIES ~ "CARRIE ANNE";


THE HOLLIES ~ "I CAN'T LET GO";



Dean Ford ~ Singer with 1960's Scottish band Marmalade ("I See The Rain Again")

MARMALADE ~ "I SEE THE RAIN";


MARMALADE ~ "BABY MAKE IT SOON";


MARMALADE ~ "OB-LA-DI-OB-LA-DA";



Gus Backus ~ Singer with 1950's & 60's Doo Wop group The Del Vikings ("Come Go With Me");

THE DEL VIKINGS ~ "COME GO WITH ME";



Pete Posa ~ New Zealand Surf guitarist

PETE POSA ~ "GUITAR BOOGIE";



Johnny Hutchinson ~ Drummer for 1960's Liverpool band The Big Three and (briefly) The Beatles;
THE BIG THREE ~ "WHAT I SAY";



Bonnie Guitar ~ 1950's & 60's Rockabilly & Country singer/guitarist

BONNIE GUITAR ~ "MR FIRE EYES";



Mean Steve Carroll ~ 1950's Rockabilly singer and later pro wrestling TV host

MEAN STEVE CARROLL - "IS IT EVER GONNA HAPPEN";



Sol Yaged ~ Jazz clarinetist w/Red Allen, Jack Teagarden, Willie The Lion Smith, Coleman Hawkins;

Mac Wiseman ~ Country and Blugrass singer from the 1950's & 60's;

MAC WISEMAN ~ "LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND";



Leon Rausch - 91 - American singer with Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys;

BOB WILLS & TEXAS PLAYBOYS ~ "STAY A LITTLE LONGER";



Maxine Brown ~ Singer with 1950's Country group The Browns ("Three Bells");

THE BROWNS ~ "SCARLET RIBBONS" & "LOOK BEHIND ME";


THE BROWNS ~ "THREE BELLS";



Eddie Tigner ~ Pianist for Elmore James and the Inkspots;

ELMORE JAMES ~ "IT HURTS ME TOO";


THE INK SPOTS ~ "I'D CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN";



Doris Day ~ Pop and Big Band singer and actor from the 1950's to the 70's;

DORIS DAY ~ "MY LAST HORIZON";


DORIS DAY ~ "SECRET LOVE";



Einar Iversen - 88 - Norwegian jazz pianist and composer

EINAR IVERSON;

Some Country & Folk Music Figures

Roy Clark ~ 85 ~ American banjo, guitar and fiddle player from the 1950's on, co-host on Hee Haw;

ROY CLARK ~ "12th STREET RAG";


ROY CLARK;


ROY CLARK ~ "GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY";


Tony Joe White ~ 1970's Country-Rock singer/songwriter "Polk Salad Annie";

TONY JOE WHITE ~ "POLK SALAD ANNIE";


Freddie Hart ~ 1960's & 70's Country singer

FREDDIE HART ~ "EASY LOVING";


Herb Pennington ~ Steel guitarist with 1940's Western Swing band leader Bob Wills

BOB WILLS & WESTERN PLAYBOYS ~ "STAY A LITTLE LONGER";


Vince Martin ~ 1950's & 60's American Folk singer ("Cindy Oh Cindy");

VINCE MARTIN ~ "CINDY OH CINDY";


VINCE MARTIN ~ "IF THE JASMINE DON'T GET YOU";


Liam O'Flynn ~ 72 ~ Uilleann Pipe player w/Irish Folk band Planxty;

PLANXTY ~ "THREE DRUNKEN MAIDENS";


PLANXTY ~ "WHEN FIRST UNTO THIS COUNTRY";


Tommy Peoples ~ 70 ~ Irish fiddler with folk band The Bothy Band

Alec Finn ~ Bazouki player with Irish folk band De Dannan

DE DANNAN ~ "HEY JUDE";


THE BOTHY BAND ~ "OLD HAG YOU HAVE KILLED ME";


Mark Fosson ~ American 1970's & 80's Folk guitarist

Some 1950's & 1960's Figures Pass On

Jack Ely ~ 71 ~ Singer with 1960's Garage Band The Kingsmen on classic hits like "Louie Louie", "Jolly Green Giant". Quit the Kingsmen after a messy legal dispute and formed The Courtmen and recorded a cover of "Louie Louie" and "Ride Baby Ride" to limited success. Later drafted into the army during the Vietnam War, developed a drug habit and quit the music business.

THE KINGSMEN ~ "LOUIE LOUIE";


THE KINGSMEN ~ "MONEY";


Keith McCormack ~ 74 ~ 1950's & 60's American singer w/The Patio Kids, the Rock 'n' Rollers, the Latin Teens and the String-A-Longs and songwriter of "Sugar Shack" later covered in hit version by Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs

JIMMY GILMER & THE FIREBALLS ~ "SUGAR SHACK";


Doug Rowe ~ Singer for New Zealand/Australian/Canadian Country-Rock band The Flying Circus

THE FLYING CIRCUS ~ "LA LA";


THE FLYING SAUCER ~ "FINDING MY WAY";


Johnny Gimble ~ 88 ~ Western Swing fiddle with Bob Wills & Texas Playboys, later with Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty,Connie Smith, Lefty Frizzell, Ray Price, Willie Nelson, and Chet Atkins> Appeared (as Wills) in Clint Eastwood's 1982 movie "Honky Tony Man".

BOB WILLS & TEXAS PLAYBOYS ~ "STAY A LITTLE LONGER";


BOB WILLS & TEXAS PLAYBOYS ~ "IDA RED";


BOB WILLS & TEXAS PLAYBOYS ~ "SAN ANTONIO ROSE";


Jim Ed Brown ~ 81 ~ Singer with 1950's Country group The Browns w/hits "Three Little Bells", "Scarlet Ribbons", "Blue Christmas"

THE BROWNS ~ "THREE LITTLE BELLS";


Dorothy Ann Dillard ~ 91 ~ Singer with 1950's & 60's pop vocal group The Anita Kerr Singers who sang backup for Perry Como, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Pete Fountain, Al, Hirt, Burl Ives, Snookie Lanson, Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Jimmy Dean as well as on The Grand Ole Opry.

ANITA KERR SINGERS ~ "OH LONESOME ME";


Wally Lester ~ 73 ~ American singer w/1950's Doo-Wop group The Skyliners ("Since I Don't Have You" & "Pennies From Heaven").

THE SKYLINERS ~ "SINCE I DON'T HAVE YOU";


Twinkle ~ 66 ~ (Real name Lynn Annette Ripley) British 1960's singer/songwriter had hits w/"Terry" (a reworking of "The Leader Of The Pack") and "Golden Lights" (later covered by the Smiths) TWINKLE ~ "TERRY";


Ernie Maresca ~ Doo-Wop singer and songwriter from the 1950's & 60's. Sang with The Monterays and The Desiresand solo, had hit with "Shout! Shout! Knock Yourself Out!". Wrote songs for Dion & Belmonts including several hit songs including "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Lovers Who Wander"; and "Donna the Prima Donna".

DION ~ "RUNAROUND SUE";


DION ~ "THE WANDERER";


DION ~ "DONNA THE PRIMA DONNA";

T Model Ford & Some Rock, Blues, Jazz and Country Figures Pass On

T Model Ford ~ Blues singer/guitarist. Born some time in the early 1920's (he wasn't sure when) but he didn't become a professional recording artist until he was discovered in 1995 and signed to Fat Possum Records, the label that had resurrected RL Burnside. Ford had spent most of his life in rural Mississippi doing manual labour, supervising a saw mill and truck driving. He was also sentenced to prison for ten years for murder, although he only served about two. When he was released and his wife left him and he began playing guitar, learning from records by Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Son House and Jimmy Reed. He did not record but spent his career locally playing juke joints and opening for Buddy Guy until he was discovered by Matt Johnson of Fat Possum for who he recorded five well regarded albums. He also toured widely, in fact I remember working at a club in Toronto back in the late 1990's when we tried to bring in Ford only to find he couldn'y get over the border becuase of his old murder conviction.

T MODEL FORD ~ "SALLIE MAE";


T MODEL FORD ~ "CHICKEN HEAD MAN";


Billy Bowers ~ American gospel vocalist Blind Boys of Alabama ~ 71

THE FIVE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA ~ "TOO CLOSE TO HEAVEN";


THE FIVE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA ~ "SOMEBODY GOT TO MAKE IT TO HEAVEN"


Lewis Lymon ~ 1950's Doo Wop singer, brother of Frankie Lymon and replaced him in the Teenagers after he quit to go solo ~ 69

LEWIS LYMON & THE TEENAGERS ~ "DANCE GIRL";


Texas Johnny Brown ~ Blues singer/guitarist, played with Joe Hinton, Amos Milburn, Ruth Brown, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Lavelle White, Buddy Ace and Junior Parker ~ 85


Curly Lewis ~ Fiddler for Bob Wills' Western Swing Band ~ 88

BOB WILLS & TEXAS PLAYBOYS ~ "SAN ANTONIO ROSE";


BOB WILLS & TEXAS PLAYBOYS ~ "STAY A LITTLE LONGER";


Bengt Hallberg ~ Swedish Jazz pianist and accordionist, played with Clifford Brown, Stan Getz and Quincy Jones ~ 80

CLIFFORD BROWN ~ "OH LADY BE GOOD" & "MEMORIES OF YOU";


Butch Warren ~ BeBop Jazz bassist w/ Miles Davis, Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Sonny Clark, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, and Stanley Turrentine and Thelonious Monk ~ 74

MILES DAVIS ~ "SO WHAT":


THELONIUS MONK ~ "ROUND MIDNIGHT";


Bernard Vitet ~ French Jazz trumpet player w/ Serge Gainsbourg, Yves Montand,Brigitte Bardot, Marianne Faithfull, Lester Young, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, Gato Barbieri, Jean-Luc Ponty, Django Reinhardt, Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler and The Art Emsemble Of Chicago. He also worked on film scores. ~ 77

SERGE GAINSBOURG & BRIGITTE BARDOT ~ "J'T'AIME";


Gary Shearston ~ Australian singer/songwriter, had a hit in the UK with a cover of "I Get A Kick Out Of You" ~ 74

GARY SHEARSTON ~ "I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU";