It's difficult for anyone who has heard them not to like -- or even love -- the Tremeloes. They were one of the more prodigiously talented British pop/rock bands of the '60s, and they threw that talent into making amazingly catchy and well-crafted singles that lit up the charts and radio on both sides of the Atlantic for four years running, from 1966 through 1970.

Yet, the Tremeloes are also one of the least-known and least-respected of '60s English bands. The precise reason for the lack of respect is difficult to pin down, except perhaps that their timing was off, as far as making the most of their success. They generally didn't write their own material and they cut their best singles long after the British Invasion (and the mystique surrounding the bands that were part of it) had ended. Yet, ironically, the Tremeloes are also one of the longest surviving English rock & roll bands, still playing regularly more than 40 years after the group's founding.

The band first got together in 1958, when the original members were all in their teens. They were closer in years and background to early British beat bands like the Shadows than to the British Invasion bands with which they subsequently became associated. The original lineup of Brian Poole (vocals, guitar), Alan Blakley (drums), Alan Howard (sax), and Graham Scott (guitar), had Buddy Holly's Crickets as their inspiration. This version of the band didn't stay together long, however, and Blakley quickly switched to guitar (which Poole relinquished) after Dave Munden joined on the drums. Munden proved not only to be a very talented percussionist, but also a good singer. This gave the group a third vocalist, which would prove essential to their success further on in their history. Howard also switched to bass soon after Munden joined.

The band -- then known as the Tremilos thanks to a misspelling -- built up a following at local dances and clubs, and then broke into the U.S. air base circuit, where the length of sets they were forced to play required them to learn a massive number of new songs. By 1961, they had turned professional. The group's lineup changed again around that time when Graham Scott left and was replaced by Rick West (born Rick Westwood), who had previously played with Tony Rivers & the Castaways.

West's arrival was key to the group's long-term success, providing the band with a top-flight (indeed, classically trained) guitarist. They also got a professional manager in the guise of Peter Walsh, who already represented such acts as the Brook Brothers (England's answer to the Everly Brothers) and the vocal group the Kestrels. The band's first break happened soon after when they were spotted by Jimmy Grant, the producer of the BBC's Saturday Club music showcase, who got them an audition for the BBC. This led to the group becoming regulars on radio and, in turn, resulted in an audition for Decca Records on New Year's Day 1962. At the time, Decca was looking for a new rock & roll act and the Tremeloes were up against a relatively obscure Liverpool quartet called the Beatles. Decca executives Dick Rowe and Mike Smith were in charge of the auditions, with Rowe reportedly leaving the choice up to Smith. The latter chose the Tremeloes, reportedly based on the fact that they were based in London and, thus, would be more accessible than the Beatles.

The signing had a range of consequences for the band and their future. At the time, it was routine for groups to have a featured member -- Cliff Richard & the Shadows being the prime example -- thus, the label insisted that the band be signed as Brian Poole & the Tremeloes.

The band accepted this as one price of pursuing success and Poole became the perceived star of the band. They cut a series of records backing other artists, including the Vernons Girls (The Locomotion) and DJ Jimmy Savile, on the latter's version of "Ahab the Arab," as well as some failed singles of their own, got into the lineup of artists in the jukebox comedy film Just for Fun, and generally missed even modest chart action by the length of their fingertips. Their singles of "Twist Little Sister" and "Keep on Dancing" failed to find audiences, despite some valiant efforts at promotion. Success seemed to become less likely as 1963 wore on and a new wave of English rock & roll acts, spearheaded, ironically enough, by the Beatles, began dominating the radio and the charts.

Rather than wilting in this new environment, Brian Poole & the Tremeloes rose to the challenge. They changed their look and pumped up the rhythm guitar parts in their songs, and began looking at R&B, rather than white rock & roll, as a source of material and inspiration.

The result was their version of "Twist and Shout," which managed to rise to number four on the English charts, despite running up head-to-head with the Beatles' recording, issued on an EP that summer. Their next record, a cover of the Contours' hit "Do You Love Me," was a classic of the era, an honest, authentic-sounding screamer of a single that hit number one in England once the Beatles' "She Loves You" vacated the spot, and managed to eclipse a rival version by the Dave Clark Five. In its wake, Brian Poole & the Tremeloes managed a series of respectable and even occasionally inspired hits over the next two years, including a U.K. Top Ten cover of Roy Orbison's "Candy Man" and a convincingly raucous rendition of the Strangeloves' Bo Diddley beat-driven anthem "I Want Candy."

They appeared on film, most notably a pair of performance clips in the feature film Go Go, Big Beat, a featured spot in A Touch of Blarney, and made the rounds of the television music showcases, charting moderately well until the end of 1965. The band ran into hard times just about then, owing to issues of music and style.

It was possibly the result of the fact that they'd never really been part of the British Invasion, but the Tremeloes had never seen fit to update their image, which had been something of a pose to start with. They still dressed in matching suits on-stage, and performed the same brand of stomping covers of American R&B and rock & roll. It was no longer possible to expect those to chart, however, their competition wasn't the Dave Clark Five or Gerry & the Pacemakers, but the likes of much heavier and musically higher-powered bands such as the Yardbirds and the Kinks, not to mention the rapidly evolving Beatles and Rolling Stones. All of these groups seemed to up the musical ante, in terms of what sounds and instruments they brought to the table with each new release. Additionally, Poole had emerged as the star of the group and developed a star mentality; he became convinced that his future lay in a career as a pop-oriented vocalist, in the manner of such up and coming figures as Tom Jones. The chart failure of their cover of the Olympics' "Good Lovin' " brought a halt to the success the quintet had been enjoying, and started Poole looking out for his own interests and future.

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By the end of 1965, a split was in the works. The band was inactive in the studio for almost six months while the mechanics of Poole's exit worked themselves out. The consensus in the music press was that Poole was poised for stardom, while the Tremeloes were believed to be headed for oblivion. His singing had been the focus of their singles, he was the "name," and little that the group had done on record had distinguished the other members.

Instead, Poole ended up disappearing from view after a series of failed singles, and ultimately left music. The Tremeloes had their own problems, including the exit of bassist Alan Howard, who was replaced by Mike Clark, a former bandmate of West's, and then by Len "Chip" Hawkes. In the meantime, they'd released a single covering the Paul Simon song "Blessed," a rather improbably dissonant song that failed to chart and got the band dropped by Decca. The members' own best musical instincts, coupled with changes in the British recording industry, helped rescue them.

Although they'd been written off in the press, the Tremeloes themselves knew better what they could do. They had three capable singers, including a lead vocalist in the form of Hawkes, and an excellent if somewhat underrated guitarist in West; they also had eight years of experience as a band, and had retooled their sound before.

Additionally, they had a good and dedicated friend in the guise of Mike Smith, who'd exited Decca in 1966. Smith was now in the employ of the newly created CBS Records label, the British outlet for America's Columbia Records. The new label was hungry for homegrown talent to augment the label's roster of American stars, and Smith convinced CBS to sign the Tremeloes.

The band updated their look and image, and then they returned to the same source whence they gotten their first chart single, "Twist and Shout," back in 1963: the Beatles. The band by now was beyond peer, and each of their albums had songs that could have charted.

The Tremeloes grabbed onto one of them, "Good Day Sunshine." It never charted, but it did re-establish the Tremeloes' name as a credible force in their own right, getting played heavily, receiving good reviews in the music press, and helping the band get onto television. More importantly, it allowed the group to transform their image into a more contemporary one.

It was the band's next single that put them back on track. "Here Comes My Baby," written by Cat Stevens, became an infectiously tuneful, upbeat song, with very pleasing harmony vocals and solid playing in the hands of the Tremeloes. It became a number four hit in England and even made it to number 13 in America, pleasing the group, CBS/Columbia, and Mike Smith no end. (Smith also brought a similar Scottish group, the Marmalade, also managed by Walsh, to British CBS with successful results).

This was the break they needed. The Tremeloes were suddenly booked alongside the Hollies, Paul Jones, and the Spencer Davis Group, where they proceeded to roll over the rest of the show with their sound and style. They were suddenly poised for greater things than they'd ever seemed capable of during their days at Decca. "Silence Is Golden," a popular concert number, became their next single and their first chart-topper in England since "Do You Love Me," ascending to number 11 in America during the spring of 1967, and becoming their second U.S. gold record.

For all of their reputation as a pop/rock band, the Tremeloes had a surprisingly progressive and musically sophisticated edge. Rick West's fuzztone guitar on "Let Your Hair Hang Down," "What a State I'm In," and "Suddenly Winter" -- all B-sides -- were a match for anything that Jeff Beck, Davy O'List, or any of the other progressive axe-men of the era were doing. According to historian Roger Dopson, West had it one up on all of them because he was the first guitarist in England to perfect the use of the fuzztone on-stage. They also harmonized nearly as beautifully as the Beatles, and if Chip Hawkes wasn't a match for Paul McCartney in his bass playing, he was still a strong, melodic player. "Even the Bad Times Are Good," "Be Mine," "Silence Is Golden" (a number one hit), "Suddenly You Love Me," "Helule Helule," "My Little Lady," "All the World to Me," and "I'm Gonna Try" -- songs whose respective beats, harmonies, and hooks half the groups in England or America would have killed to put together -- were all achingly catchy, rousing, perfect pop/rock creations, and even those experimental B-sides were tuneful in ways that many progressive rock tracks by the Nice and the Yardbirds weren't.

The Tremeloes toured America just as the Summer of Love was blossoming and managed to chart their album Here Comes the Tremeloes on that side of the Atlantic, while its U.K. version got to number 15. The next three years saw them move from success to success in England and around the world, with another three singles in the U.K. Top Ten and two more in the British Top 40; tours of three continents only confirmed that they could reach audiences well beyond the Sceptered Isle.

In a sense, the Tremeloes' music filled a gap that was left when bands like the Beatles and the Hollies started getting all serious and intense in their writing and messages, and groups like Gerry & the Pacemakers disappeared. There was still an audience out there for well-sung and inventively played pop/rock, songs that were fun to hear on the radio and to hum or sing to. In America, outfits like the Monkees, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and bubblegum rockers such as the Ohio Express and the 1910 Fruitgum Company on Buddha Records were filling this same gap in slightly different variations.

The Tremeloes, as it happened, were musically very strong, which was one of the reasons that they survived and thrived across an entire decade of stylistic changes in popular music. West, in particular, was a virtuoso guitarist who was respected by his peers and deserves a place in the annals of British rock music not too far behind George Harrison. Hawkes and Munden shared the lead vocal responsibilities (with West doing harmonies), while Hawkes -- somewhat younger and more conventionally attractive than the rest of the band -- became the resident heartthrob for the band's teenybopper fans, sort of the Tremeloes' answer to the Raiders' Mark Lindsay.

They went along well for three years, their one seeming error a popish, elegantly harmonized cover (accompanied by the Keith Mansfield Strings) of Bob Dylan's then new song "I Shall Be Released," that barely made the U.K. Top 30 (although to listen to it today, it seems like a perfectly good interpretation, and more tasteful and valid than the Hollies' attempts at doing Dylan songs). Then in 1970, the band committed a series of grave errors that started innocently enough. The members, apparently weary of being treated as a soft pop band, decided to change their sound and image, but they couldn't have chosen a worse way in which to do it.

Rather than go along making the kind of exquisitely crafted pop/rock that had served them well since late 1966, the Tremeloes decided it was time to be taken seriously. Just what they were thinking at the time was anyone's guess. After three years of tapping into the same market that Paul McCartney had cultivated through the Beatles and his early solo career, they felt the need to emulate the likes of John Lennon and Bob Dylan. (Author's Note: They might better have taken a look at Preston Sturges' movie Sullivan's Travels, about a movie director with the same impulse -- he learns that making people laugh and making them feel happy is the most serious and important business that there is, and something not everyone can do).

They spent a year writing and preparing an album of music that was intended to prove they could do serious songs, and that was not, in and of itself, a mistake. The error came when the group announced their intention and, in the process, disparaged all of their past hits and dismissed the listeners they had attracted as "morons." When the smoke cleared, the group had managed to alienate most of their listeners and any representative of the music press who had previously been in their corner, while the new music -- the album Master -- was ignored by the very people they'd sought to attract. Even in the midst of this debacle, the band showed they still had the golden touch. "Me and My Life," which was a tuneful number off the album, reached number four in England, while its B-side, "Try Me," was a first-rate rock & roll number.

Beyond that point, the group seemed to lose their rudder. They tried sounding heavy ("Right Wheel, Left Hammer, Sham") and country ("Hello Buddy"), spoofing glam rock with "Blue Suede Tie," and even changing their name (the Trems). By the mid-'70s, the Tremeloes were playing in cabaret, a strategy similar to that of the Searchers and a few other surviving '60s bands. They never stopped working, or were without work, however, Dave Munden was there on drums and Rick West stayed on guitar, and the group cut music for DJM, Pye, and Polydor intermittently, before briefly returning to CBS in the early '80s.

In the late '90s, Munden and West were still there, with keyboardist and singer/engineer Joe Gillingham and bassist/guitarist/singer Davey Freyer playing regular gigs in England and Europe. The group's Decca sides with Poole (who has since re-emerged as a singer, sometimes billed on CDs as Brian Poole OF the Tremeloes) have been reissued on CD by Decca Records, but are rather difficult to find. By contrast, Rhino, Sequel, and Repertoire Records each have a collection out of the Tremeloes' post-1965 hits. The band keeps an active website up and bids fair, at this rate, to be busy for their golden anniversary in rock & roll before the end of the first decade of the 21st century. ~ All Music Guide

Source: Bruce Eder

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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First formed in the early '50s, the Isley Brothers enjoyed one of the longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music -- over the course of nearly a half century of performing, the group's distinguished history spanned not only two generations of Isley siblings but also massive cultural shifts which heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk. The first generation of Isley siblings was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH, where they were encouraged to begin a singing career by their father, himself a professional vocalist, and their mother, a church pianist who provided musical accompaniment at their early performances. Initially a gospel quartet, the group was comprised of Ronald, Rudolph, O'Kelly, and Vernon Isley; after Vernon's 1955 death in a bicycling accident, tenor Ronald was tapped as the remaining trio's lead vocalist. In 1957, the brothers went to New York City to record a string of failed doo wop singles; while performing a spirited reading of the song "Lonely Teardrops" in Washington, D.C., two years later, they interjected the line "You know you make me want to shout," which inspired frenzied audience feedback. An RCA executive in the audience saw the concert, and when he signed the Isleys soon after, he instructed that their first single be constructed around their crowd-pleasing catch phrase; while the call-and-response classic "Shout" failed to reach the pop Top 40 on its initial release, it eventually became a frequently covered classic.

Still, success eluded the Isleys, and only after they left RCA in 1962 did they again have another hit, this time with their seminal cover of the Top Notes' "Twist and Shout." Like so many of the brothers' early R&B records, "Twist and Shout" earned greater commercial success when later rendered by a white group -- in this case, the Beatles; other acts who notched hits by closely following the Isleys' blueprint were the Yardbirds ("Respectable," also covered by the Outsiders), the Human Beinz ("Nobody but Me"), and Lulu ("Shout"). During a 1964 tour, they recruited a young guitarist named Jimmy James to play in their backing band; James -- who later shot to fame under his given name, Jimi Hendrix -- made his first recordings with the Isleys, including the single "Testify," issued on the brothers' own T-Neck label. They signed to the Motown subsidiary Tamla in 1965, where they joined forces with the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team. Their first single, the shimmering "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," was their finest moment yet, and barely missed the pop Top Ten.

"This Old Heart of Mine" was their only hit on Motown, however, and when the song hit number three in Britain in 1967, the Isleys relocated to England in order to sustain their flagging career; after years of writing their own material, they felt straitjacketed by the Motown assembly-line production formula, and by the time they returned stateside in 1969, they had exited Tamla to resuscitate the T-Bone label. Their next release, the muscular and funky "It's Your Thing," hit number two on the U.S. charts in 1969, and became their most successful record. That year, the Isleys also welcomed a number of new members as younger brothers Ernie and Marvin, brother-in-law Chris Jasper, and family friend Everett Collins became the trio's new backing unit. Spearheaded by Ernie's hard-edged guitar leads, the group began incorporating more and more rock material into its repertoire as the 1970s dawned, and scored hits with covers of Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With," Eric Burdon & War's "Spill the Wine," and Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay."

In 1973, the Isleys scored a massive hit with their rock-funk fusion cover of their own earlier single "Who's That Lady," retitled "That Lady, Pt. 1"; the album 3 + 3 also proved highly successful, as did 1975's The Heat Is On, which spawned the smash "Fight the Power, Pt. 1." As the decade wore on, the group again altered its sound to fit into the booming disco market; while their success on pop radio ran dry, they frequently topped the R&B charts with singles like 1977's "The Pride," 1978's "Take Me to the Next Phase, Pt. 1," 1979's "I Wanna Be With You, Pt. 1," and 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight." While the Isleys' popularity continued into the 1980s, Ernie and Marvin, along with Chris Jasper, defected in 1984 to form their own group, Isley/Jasper/Isley; a year later, they topped the R&B charts with "Caravan of Love." On March 31, 1986, O'Kelly died of a heart attack; Rudolph soon left to join the ministry, but the group reunited in 1990. Although the individual members continued with solo work and side projects, the Isley Brothers forged on in one form or another throughout the decade; in 1996, now consisting of Ronald, Marvin, and Ernie, they released the album Mission to Please. Ronald and Ernie hooked up several years later for Eternal (2001), a brand-new selection of R&B cuts featuring collaborative efforts with Jill Scott, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Raphael Saadiq. On that particular release, Ronald also introduced the alter ego Mr. Biggs. Body Kiss (2003) and Baby Makin' Music (2006) followed.

Discography:

Source:  Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide; eNotes

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He's Chicago's blues king today, ruling his domain just as his idol and mentor Muddy Waters did before him. Yet there was a time, and not all that long ago either, when Buddy Guy couldn't even negotiate a decent record deal. Times sure have changed for the better -- Guy's first three albums for Silvertone in the '90s all earned Grammys. Eric Clapton unabashedly calls Buddy Guy his favorite blues axeman, and so do a great many adoring fans worldwide. 

High-energy guitar histrionics and boundless on-stage energy have always been Guy trademarks, along with a tortured vocal style that's nearly as distinctive as his incendiary rapid-fire fretwork. He's come a long way from his beginnings on the 1950s Baton Rouge blues scene -- at his first gigs with bandleader "Big Poppa" John Tilley, the young guitarist had to chug a stomach-jolting concoction of Dr. Tichenor's antiseptic and wine to ward off an advanced case of stage fright. But by the time he joined harpist Raful Neal's band, Guy had conquered his nervousness. 

Guy journeyed to Chicago in 1957, ready to take the town by storm. But times were tough initially, until he turned up the juice as a showman (much as another of his early idols, Guitar Slim, had back home). It didn't take long after that for the new kid in town to establish himself. He hung with the city's blues elite: Freddy King, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Magic Sam, who introduced Buddy Guy to Cobra Records boss Eli Toscano. Two searing 1958 singles for Cobra's Artistic subsidiary were the result: "This Is the End" and "Try to Quit You Baby" exhibited more than a trace of B.B. King influence, while "You Sure Can't Do" was an unabashed homage to Guitar Slim. Willie Dixon produced the sides. 

When Cobra folded, Guy wisely followed Rush over to Chess. With the issue of his first Chess single in 1960, Guy was no longer aurally indebted to anybody. "First Time I Met the Blues" and its follow-up, "Broken Hearted Blues," were fiery, tortured slow blues brilliantly showcasing Guy's whammy-bar-enriched guitar and shrieking, hellhound-on-his-trail vocals. 

Although he's often complained that Leonard Chess wouldn't allow him to turn up his guitar loud enough, the claim doesn't wash: Guy's 1960-1967 Chess catalog remains his most satisfying body of work. A shuffling "Let Me Love You Baby," the impassioned downbeat items "Ten Years Ago," "Stone Crazy," "My Time After Awhile," and "Leave My Girl Alone," and a bouncy "No Lie" rate with the hottest blues waxings of the '60s. While at Chess, Guy worked long and hard as a session guitarist, getting his licks in on sides by Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Koko Taylor (on her hit "Wang Dang Doodle").   

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Upon leaving Chess in 1967, Guy went to Vanguard. His first LP for the firm, A Man and the Blues, followed in the same immaculate vein as his Chess work and contained the rocking "Mary Had a Little Lamb," but This Is Buddy Guy and Hold That Plane! proved somewhat less consistent. Guy and harpist Junior Wells had long been friends and played around Chicago together (Guy supplied the guitar work on Wells' seminal 1965 Delmark set Hoodoo Man Blues, initially billed as "Friendly Chap" because of his Chess contract); they recorded together for Blue Thumb in 1969 as Buddy and the Juniors (pianist Junior Mance being the other Junior) and Atlantic in 1970 (sessions co-produced by Eric Clapton and Tom Dowd), and 1972 for the solid album Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues. Buddy and Junior toured together throughout the '70s, their playful repartee immortalized on Drinkin' TNT 'n' Smokin' Dynamite, a live set cut at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival. 

Guy's reputation among rock guitar gods such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan was unsurpassed, but prior to his Grammy-winning 1991 Silvertone disc Damn Right, I've Got the Blues, he amazingly hadn't issued a domestic album in a decade. That's when the Buddy Guy bandwagon really picked up steam -- he began selling out auditoriums and turning up on network television (David Letterman, Jay Leno, etc.). Feels Like Rain, his 1993 encore, was a huge letdown artistically, unless one enjoys the twisted concept of having one of the world's top bluesmen duet with country hat act Travis Tritt and hopelessly overwrought rock singer Paul Rodgers. By comparison, 1994's Slippin' In, produced by Eddie Kramer, was a major step back in the right direction, with no hideous duets and a preponderance of genuine blues excursions. Last Time Around: Live at Legends, an acoustic outing with longtime partner Junior Wells followed in 1998. In 2001, Guy switched gears and went to Mississippi for a recording of the type of modal juke-joint blues favored by Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, and the Fat Possum crew. The result was Sweet Tea: arguably one of his finest albums and yet a complete anomaly in his catalog. Oddly enough, he chose to follow that up with Blues Singer in 2003, another completely acoustic effort that won a Grammy. For 2005's Bring 'Em In, it was back to the same template as his first albums for Silvertone, with polished production and a handful of guest stars. Skin Deep appeared in 2008 and featured guest spots by Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, and Robert Randolph. 

A Buddy Guy concert can sometimes be a frustrating experience. He'll be in the middle of something downright hair-raising, only to break it off abruptly in midsong, or he'll ignore his own massive songbook in order to offer imitations of Clapton, Vaughan, and Hendrix. But Guy, whose club remains the most successful blues joint in Chicago (you'll likely find him sitting at the bar whenever he's in town), is without a doubt the Windy City's reigning blues artist -- and he rules benevolently.

-  All Music Guide

Sources: Bill Dahl 

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Legendary as one of the three rock greats to die in the tragic 1959 Clear Lake, IA, plane crash that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (born Jiles Perry Richardson) had just established himself as a rock hit-maker with the rollicking "Chantilly Lace."

Born in the heart of Texas, Richardson grew up in Beaumont and changed his first name to Jape. He broke into show biz as a DJ over at KTRM radio, where he coined the nickname the Big Bopper.

In March 1955, he was drafted into the United States Army and did his basic training at Fort Ord, California. He spent the rest of his two years service as a radar instructor at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. Following his discharge as a corporal in March 1957, Richardson returned to KTRM radio, where he held down the "Dishwashers' Serenade" shift from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

One of the station's sponsors wanted Richardson for a new time slot and suggested an idea for a show. Richardson had seen the college students doing a dance called The Bop, and he decided to call himself "The Big Bopper". His new radio show ran from 3 to 6 p.m. Richardson soon became the station's program director.

In May 1957, he broke the record for continuous on-the-air broadcasting by eight minutes. From a remote set-up in the lobby of the Jefferson Theatre in downtown Beaumont, Richardson performed for a total of five days, two hours and eight minutes, playing 1,821 records and taking showers during five-minute newscasts. Richardson is credited with coining the term music video in 1959, and recorded an early example himself.

Richardson - who played guitar - began his musical career as a songwriter. George Jones later recorded Richardson's "White Lightning", which became Jones' first #1 country hit in 1959 (#73 on the pop charts). Richardson also wrote "Running Bear" for Johnny Preston, his friend from Port Arthur, Texas. The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the Sabine River, where he heard stories about Indian tribes.

Richardson sang background on "Running Bear", but the recording wasn't released until September 1959, after his death. Within several months it became #1.

The man who launched Richardson as a recording artist was Harold “Pappy” Daily from Houston, Texas. Daily was promotion director for Mercury and Starday Records and signed Richardson to Mercury. Richardson's first single, "Beggar To A King", had a country flavour, but failed to gain any chart action. He soon cut "Chantilly Lace" as "The Big Bopper" for Pappy Daily's D label. Mercury bought the recording and released it in the summer of 1958. It reached #6 on the pop charts and spent 22 weeks in the national Top 40.

It also inspired an answer record by Jayne Mansfield titled "That Makes It". In "Chantilly Lace", Richardson pretends to have a flirting phone conversation with his girlfriend; the Mansfield record suggests what his girlfriend might have been saying at the other end of the line.

Later that year, he scored a second hit, a raucous novelty tune entitled "The Big Bopper's Wedding", in which Richardson pretends to be getting cold feet at the altar. He was known for his "Hello Baby!"

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With the success of "Chantilly Lace", Richardson took time off from KTRM radio and joined Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Dion and the Belmonts for a "Winter Dance Party" tour. On the eleventh night of the tour, Holly chartered an airplane to fly them to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota.

The musicians had been travelling by bus for over a week, and it had already broken down once. They were tired, they had not been paid yet and all of their clothes were dirty. With the airplane, Holly could arrive early, do everyone's laundry and catch up on some rest.

A 21-year old pilot named Roger Peterson had agreed to take the singers to Fargo, North Dakota, where the airport serves the twin cities of Moorhead and Fargo. A snowstorm was on its way and the young pilot was fatigued from a 17-hour workday, but he agreed to fly the trip.

The musicians packed up their instruments and finalized the flight arrangements. Buddy Holly's bass player, Waylon Jennings, was scheduled to fly on the plane, but gave his seat up to the Big Bopper, who was suffering from influenza. Holly's guitarist, Tommy Allsup, agreed to flip a coin with Ritchie Valens for the remaining seat; Valens won.

The three musicians boarded the red and white single-engine Beech Bonanza around 12:30 am on February 3. The musicians waved and then climbed onto the plane. Snow blew across the runway, but the sky was clear. Peterson received clearance from the control tower, taxied down the runway and took off.

He was never told of two different weather advisories that warned of an oncoming blizzard ahead. The plane stayed in the sky for only a few minutes; no one is quite sure what went wrong. The best guess is Peterson flew directly into the blizzard, lost visual reference and accidentally flew down instead of up.

The four-passenger plane ploughed into a nearby cornfield at over 170 mph, flipping over on itself and tossing the passengers into the air. Their bodies landed yards away from the wreckage and stayed there for ten hours as snowdrifts formed around them. Because of the weather, nobody could reach the crash site until later in the morning.

Albums:

Sources: http://www.artistdirect.com/ http://www.wikipedia.org/

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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Marty Wilde

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The Shadows started out under the name The Drifters before changing it to avoid confusion with the similarly labelled American group. Original members were Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch on guitars with Jet Harris (bass) and Tony Meehan (drums).

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Initially, The Shadows were the backing band for the Cliff Richard Show but achieved fame on their own with the instrumental hit, Apache. More UK #1 hits followed with Kontiki, Atlantis, Wonderful Land, Foot Tapper and Dance On. Harris and Meehan left the band and were replaced by John Rostill and Brian Bennett respectively. The band continued on the coattails of Cliff Richard’s success providing music and vocals to his tracks.

The Shadows’ famous sound is attributed to guitarist Marvin’s novel and often imitated use of echo, muting and reverb techniques. They also are well-known for developing what is termed “The Shadows’ Walk” which is a series of movements the band would incorporate during live performances using their guitars in synchronised poses that would accentuate the tempo of the music. This type of movement has been copied by many bands including Showaddywaddy.

Outside of the 60s decade, The Shadows have reunited for special occasions like 1975’s Eurovision Song Contest, compilation albums and most recently a Cliff Richard anniversary tour.

Albums:

Sources: Juanita Appleby; Carol Brennan

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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Etta James is a truly legendary American singer. Her career spans over five decades, dozens of albums, four Grammy Awards and her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Her vocal styles have changed over the years. Originally, she was positioned as a doo-wop singer. This evolved in to jazz and then finally her gravelly voice was best suited to blues and soul.

In recent years, she has been seen as crossing the divide between R&B and Rock-n-Roll. Her voice and talent have been documented as an inspiration for Bonnie Raitt, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin and the Motown diva, Diana Ross.

Even with a prolific catalogue of acclaimed records, it’s only been in the last decade that she has received mainstream industry recognition. James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and she was awarded four Grammies in 1995, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

James had her first #1 single in 1955 with “The Wallflower” but she is more known for her crossover breakthrough in the 60s when she released “At Last”, “Trust In Me” “Pushover” and “Something’s Got a Hold On Me”, all top ten hits.

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In the mid-60s, James began an epic battle with heroin that, according to her autobiography, would eventually last well into her 50s. But she continued to belt out big hits and remained a concert attraction.

Her career went into a standstill until the late 80s and 90s. She collaborated with Def Jam rapper, Delicious Vinyl. James was now exposed to a younger generation through the popular fusion of hip hop and jazz as well as the song “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” featured on a Coca-Cola TV commercial.

The 2000s were a big decade for James. In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and also was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. She shed over 200 pounds. Rolling Stone named her #64 of the Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2006, she added her distinctive vocals to an album of covers featuring songs from Prince, John Lennon, Simply Red and Marvin Gaye. She participated in a tribute album to another jazz great, Ella Fitzgerald. And pop sensation, Beyoncè Knowles, played a younger version of James in the 2008 movie called Cadillac Records.

Juanita Appleby

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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The Supremes

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The Platters started out as a Los Angeles-based doo wop group with little identity of their own to make them stand out from the pack. They made their first records for Federal, a subsidiary of Cincinnati's King Records. These early sides don't sound anything like the better-known sides that would eventually emerge from this group, instead merely aping the current R&B trends and styles of the day. What changed their fortunes can be reduced down to one very important name: their mentor, manager, producer, songwriter, and vocal coach, Buck Ram. Ram took what many would say were a run-of-the-mill R&B doo wop vocal group and turned them into stars and one of the most enduring and lucrative groups of all time. By 1954, Ram was already running a talent agency in Los Angeles, writing and arranging for publisher Mills Music, managing the Three Suns -- a pop group with some success -- and working with his protégés, the Penguins. The Platters seemed like a good addition to his stable.

After getting them out of their Federal contract, Ram placed them with the burgeoning national independent label Mercury Records (at the same time he brought over the Penguins following their success with "Earth Angel"), automatically getting them into pop markets through the label's distribution contacts alone. Then Ram started honing in on the group's strengths and weaknesses. The first thing he did was put the lead vocal status squarely on the shoulders of lead tenor Tony Williams. Williams' emoting power was turned up full blast with the group (now augmented with Zola Taylor from Shirley Gunter & the Queens) working as very well-structured vocal support framing his every note. With Ram's pop songwriting classics as their musical palette, the group quickly became a pop and R&B success, eventually earning the distinction of being the first black act of the era to top the pop charts. Considered the most romantic of all the doo wop groups (that is, the ultimate in "make out music"), hit after hit came tumbling forth in a seemingly effortless manner: "Only You," "The Great Pretender," "My Prayer," "Twilight Time," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Harbor Lights," all of them establishing The Platters as the classiest of all.

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Wiliams struck out on his own in 1961 and, by the decade's end, the group had disbanded with various members starting up their own version of The Platters. This bit of franchising now extends into the present day, with an estimated 125 sanctioned versions of "the original Platters" out on the oldies show circuit.

Sources: artistdirect.com; Karen Gordon

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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Tommy Steele OBE has been labelled Britain’s first Rock ‘n’ Roll star. Tommy was one of the first artist’s, alongside Cliff Richard, Hank Marvin amongst others, to emerge from the now legendary 2i’s Coffee Bar on Old Compton Street London, quoted as being “The birthplace of British Rock ‘n’ Roll and the popular music industry”.

These humble beginnings would propel Tommy Steele to superstardom and ultimately, he would be recognised as one of the pioneers of the British Rock ‘n’ Roll sound of the 50’s and 60’s. Tommy is also famous for claiming to have met Elvis Presley and reportedly gave him a guided tour of London, although there is no firm evidence to prove that Steeles claim is true. The general consensus is that Elvis never visited the UK. 

Tommy Steele, was born Tommy W. Hicks on December 1936 in the working class area of Bermondsey, South East London. Steele was extremely proud of his working class background; he talks in detail in his autobiography (Bermondsey Boy: memoirs of a lost world) about his love for the working class culture he grew up in during the Second World War. Aged 15, Steele joined the merchant navy and it was here, that he first indulged in the art of singing, the reaction to Steele’s singing voice was always positive even at the elementary stage. While on voyages across the Atlantic in America, Tommy would for the first time hear the sounds of Rock ‘n’ Roll; he would never forget those rebellious sounds.

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After a brief stint in the compulsory national service, Tommy, at the age of eighteen joined a Skiffle band (Skiffle: a type of music originating from the American south, using homemade instrument). After becoming bored with Skiffle, Steele began playing Rock ‘n’ Roll at the 2i’s coffee bar, after a short while he was discovered by photographer John Kennedy who believed that Tommy could be the UK’s answer to Elvis Presley.

Steele, as the front man for the Steelmen shot to fame in 1956 with the single, ‘Rock With The Cavemen’ and later in the same year with the chart topping single ‘Singing the Blues’. Tommy Steele would continue to have hits throughout the rest of the 50’s and into the early sixties. Like many of his contemporaries at the time such as Cliff Richard and Adam Smith, Tommy ventured into film on both the silver screen and on stage in London’s West end.

In 1980 he was awarded an OBE for his services to entertainment, Tommy Steele continues to perform at the ripe old age of 72 and continues to display his true love and enthusiasm for entertaining the public.

Albums: 

Source: Segun Murray Ogunsheye

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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Cliff Richard

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Marty Wilde

Lonnie Donegan Putting On The Style

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Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939) is a multi-platinum American rock/soul singer, songwriter, actress, and author. She is the most successful female rock artist of all time. She started her storied career by marrying Ike Turner to form The Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1960. They had a string of hits like ‘Fool in Love’, ‘I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine', a cover of and the autobiographical “Nutbush City Limits”.

After her divorce from Ike Turner, who had been abusing her for years, she took on a solo career in the late 70’s. It wasn’t until 1983, with the release of a cover of Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’, that she began to make one of the greatest comebacks in history of music.

Her fifth solo album ‘Private Dancer’ produced numerous hits and earned her four Grammy Awards. In 1985, she starred in “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” beside Mel Gibson and received a Grammy nomination for ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’, a song from the film’s soundtrack. Next, Tina brought her story to the public through her best-selling biography “I, Tina”, written with Kurt Loder. She followed with the songs ‘Break Every Rule’ and ‘Foreign Affair’. Each album was followed by successful world tours. Tina Turner announced that she would be retiring after the ‘Foreign Affair’ Tour.

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Ike and Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. That same year, she released her first greatest hits CD, ‘Simply The Best’, which went platinum. In 1993, her life story was made into a motion picture, “What’s Love Got To Do with It".

Tina Turner came out of retirement to make her first original album in 1995 after the success of her song ‘Goldeneye’ from the James Bond film of the same name. She released ‘Wildest Dreams’ in 1996.

In 1999, Tina Turner turned 60 and released the album ‘Twenty Four Seven’, with a world tour following. In 2004, she released ‘All the Best’, her second greatest hits CD, in Europe.

In December of 2005 Tina Turner was honored with the prestigious Kennedy Award for her achievements in her musical career. In 2006, Tina Turner and singer Elisa released the song ‘Teach Me Again’, which was for the movie “All the Invisible Children”.

Tina currently resides in Switzerland and France with her longtime companion, Erwin Bach. More information can be found at her official site, http://www.officialtina.com/

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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The Supremes are arguably the most iconic girl group of all time, paving the way for African American artists both male and female to find mainstream chart success in the United States. The Supremes have become symbolic of the diva, strong black female mentality typified by more modern groups such as Destiny’s Child, En vogue and TLC. With the help of one of Americas most infamous recorded music labels, Tamla Motown, The Supreme seemed destined and armed for success, although for a while success seemed like a distant dream.

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The Supremes began as the Primettes, in 1958, Detroit, Michigan, by Florence Ballard, a Junior High school student at the time. The band were originally a four piece who embraced the local talent shows, before long they auditioned for Motown owner Berry Gordy who insisted the girls come back after graduating from high school. Un-phased the girls continued to hang around the Motown studio; Hitsville USA, in the hope of recording, the group provided handclaps and backing vocals on many songs. In 1962 the group signed to Motown Records, with group members; Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. Initially the band took some time to get going; it wasn’t until they teamed up with the song writing dream team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, also known as, Holland-Dozier-Holland that the hits started to pour in.

By 1964 the band had 4 consecutive No.1’s with ‘Baby Love’ ‘Come see about me’ and ‘back in my arms again’. The Supremes would continue to have hits through out the 60’s. By 1967, the group began to fall apart after tensions grew between Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, Ballard began to go off the rails, drinking and turning up late for auditions on a regular basis, Ballard left the group in 1968. The group had been re-named Diana Ross and the Supremes due to Ross’s increasing popularity. By 1969 Diana Ross left the group, to pursue a solo career. The Supremes continued to record with a new line–up, with moderate success.

The strength of The Supremes impact can be seen in the movie 'Sparkle And Dream Girls', the tony award winning musical, which was later adapted into a film (both based on The Supremes story), there image has been imitated many times by artists such as Solange Knowles, Amy Winehouse and Duffy to name a few. The Supremes legacy will be as one of the premier girl groups of all time, that were the female faces of Tamla Motown and pop music worldwide.

Group formed c. 1960 in Detroit as vocal quartet the Primettes; original members included Florence Ballard (born June 30, 1943, in Detroit; died February 22, 1976, in Detroit), Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944, in Detroit), Mary Wilson (born March 4, one source says March 6,1944, in Detroit), and Barbara Martin, who appeared as fourth member on the Primettes' first three singles.

Albums; as the Supremes: 

Sources: Segun Murray Ogunsheye; David Bianco

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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