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"GIT IT"
Welcome to this special page within the Rockabilly Hall of Fame relating to
and the Blue Caps
Cochran/Vincent "Town Hall Party". As reported in "Now Dig This" Rockstar Records have secured the rights to issue the recently discovered live performances by both Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. The complete performances are:
EDDIE COCHRAN
C'mon Everybody (Two Versions)
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
Don't Blame It On Me
Summertime Blues
School Days
Be Honest With Me
Money Honey
GENE VINCENT
Be-Bop-A-Lula (Two Versions)
High Blood Pressure
Rip It Up
Dance To The Bop
You Win Again
For Your Precious Love
Rocky Road Blues
Pretty Little Pearly
High School Confidential
Over The Rainbow (Two Versions)
Roll Over Beethoven
She She Little Sheila
The material is being planned for an April release. Rockstar are also negotiating for video Rights. (Information taken from Now Dig This Magazine The UK's Top Magazine.)
NOTE: RE: Gene Vincent - Rebel Heart 6 CD is nearing completion and will be released later this year.
Tony Wilkinson Reviews
GENE VINCENT & EDDIE COCHRAN
"Rock 'n' Roll Memories"
Blue Cap JACK NEAL'S PAGE
JOHN BRALEY'S PAGE
B&W PHOTOS OF GENE
WITH THE SHOUTS
from Derek Henderson
NEW RELEASE REVIEW:
REBEL HEART VOLUME 6
Scotty McKay (Max Lipscomb)
THE FRENCH EPs Dimitri Verdet
REFLECTIONS ON GENE VINCENT'S INAUGURATION by Steve Aynsley
INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
GENE VINCENT - A DISCOGRAPHY A Review of the Book by Bob Erskine
by DEREK HENDERSON
NEW RELEASE REVIEW:
REBEL HEART VOLUME 5
INFORMATION ON GENE VINCENT'S
CHART POSITIONS
COLLECTABLES' 2-fer RE-ISSUES A Review by Derek Henderson
FIRST SIX CAPITOL ALBUMS
THE FRONTIER CLUB, 1968 Steven Mandich
"CAT TALK"
Bob Erskine in Roger Nunn's Music Room.
"GIT IT" PAGE INTRODUCTION:
I'm Bob Erskine and along with Steve Aynsley, Roger Nunn and John Braley. We intend to build up this page with old, new and relevant information which will supplement everyone else's fine efforts and keep fans updated on current 'Gene' happenings worldwide.
The Gang of Four: Bob Erskine, John Braley, Steve Aynsley & Roger Nunn.
Gene and Bob Erskine at the Floral Hall, Belfast on 29th November 1969.
UPDATE: April 20, 1999
Bob Erskine Writes:
On a recent visit to Belfast for a Buddy Holly Tribute show "NOT FADE AWAY" featuring Dave Edmunds and Mike Berry. I had the opportunity to speak with the third major artist on the bill - Albert Lee. Obviously the subject came round to Gene Vincent and Albert told me that he once played lead guitar for Gene in Wales at Haverford West in 1962. This was only one gig as the lead guitarist of the Star Combo was ill with flu and Albert was called in. He thought that this band had been backing Gene in Hamburg and the only musician he could remember was Ricky Barnes on Sax.
Left to right: Bob Erskine, Roger Nunn, Steve Aynsley and John Braley.
As a means of introduction 'The Gang of Four' as we are called have run Gene's Fan Club since 1982 until the present day. Before expanding on this it is interesting to reminisce and give you a potted history of the Fan Club. Gene first visited the UK in 1959 and come his 1960 tour with Eddie Cochran and his popularity was at its peak. There was a tremendous demand for a fan club and with the help of Capitol Records the nettle was first taken up by Alan Vince. The full story of this period is documented in a book by Alan entitled 'I Remember Gene Vincent'. A must for the avid Gene Vincent collector, though now sadly out of print. Alan unfortunately in 1962 had to relinquish his editorship of the club and the reins were taken up for a short while by Janice Rowland and then, believe it or not, by Gene himself. This lasted to 1964 when Harry Dodds assumed the mantle of leading the club until Gene's death in 1971.
These were very formative years for the club and Harry was able to spend quite a bit of time with Gene. Many of the characters associated with Gene emerged in this period, such as Adrian Owlett, Rob Finnis, Bob Dunham and David Bowell. Adrian's association with Gene and their friendship is especially interesting - you can check this out on his web page on this site. Steve, Roger, John and myself were all associated with the club at this time and they were exciting days which saw the release of the Fan Club EP (99 copies pressed by Adrian) and the importation by Harry of 'Story of the Rockers' on the FOREVER label. There was also plenty of new product available such as the Challenge album 'I'm Back and I'm Proud, two BEST OF'S on Capitol and the two KAMA SUTRA albums.
With the devastation of Gene's death in 1971 the club folded. The remainder of the 70's was a strange time for record releases. The original Capitol albums were re-released in France in their original format along with a lovely series of albums GENE VINCENT STORY VOLUMES 1-8 but the most important event was the publication of a booklet 'Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps' by Rob Finnis and Bob Dunham. They had gone to the States in the early 70's and interviewed as many Blue Caps as they could locate and so the first in-depth story of Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps in the 50's emerged. In the UK we were largely ignorant of Blue Cap line ups and if we are honest really thought that the '56 Caps played with Gene until they disbanded. At the end of the 70's also emerged from France a series of photo books, now highly collectable by Gerard Lautrey, which told the story of Gene in pictures covering the period 1956-1971.
Roger Nunn wearing Gene's medallion with Steve Aynsley looking on.
Steve Aynsley met up with a long time fan Ged Ford in 1978 and discussed the idea of re-activating the fan club. After a lot of consultation with fans, old and new, the club re-emerged again in 1980. At this time Roger Nunn became actively involved with Steve and Roger had a contact in the States called DiAnne Kaslow. DiAnne literally 'blew our minds' when she revealed many of the now famous photos she took of Gene in the States in the 1950's. DiAnne knew Johnny Meeks and through this contact over a period of time the idea was muted for the re-formation of the Blue Caps and low and behold they arrived in the UK in 1982. Even today one has to pinch oneself at the realisation that here were Gene's right hand men in the flesh and friendships and contacts were formed which last until today, not only with the Caps but all over Europe.
Tommy Facenda & Bob in 1982 with Tommy holding his Hot Rod Gang Shirt & Bob holding Gene's.
At this time John Braley and myself came into the picture and after a get together a few months later in Newcastle we became the Gang of Four - Steve, John, Roger and Bob and plotted the course of the Fan Club for the next 15 years. The fan club was re-named the Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps International Fan Club.
As far as I'm concerned the 80's were the vintage years for the Club. Blue Caps and Jerry Merritt were interviewed, hundreds of photos of Gene emerged from the States and Europe. Britt Hagarty's book appeared but our major achievement must be the number of LP' 5 we saw of Gene released. Adrian Owlett becomes a very important part of the picture here. In 1968 Gene had no record contract and recorded four songs on an acetate Rainy Day Sunshine, MR Love, etc. and send Adrian an acetate of these to see if he could get a record company interested in him. As a result John Peel, a UK disc jockey, heard these and the Dandelion deal emerged. Steve knew Adrian had these tracks and in the early 80's asked Adrian could be lease these, which he agreed to do and they appeared on the Rollin Danny EP of which 500 copies were pressed.
Bob and Adrian Owlett with a pair of Gene's leathers.
Adrian in the meantime had set up Magnum Force Records with Nigel Molden and one of their first releases was this EP leased back from Steve. We saw a series of albums released on Magnum Force compiled by the Club such as Dressed in Black, I'm Back and I'm Proud, For Collectors Only, LA to Frisco, Forever Gene Vincent. 1983 and '84 saw the release of two Blue Cap albums -'Unleashed' and 'On the Road Again'. Compilations assembled by ourselves appeared on Bulldog and Everest and a major task was taken on and successfully completed in compiling and annotating the CHARLY BOX SET.
Newsletters from the Club continued through the 80's, usually thick photocopied magazines of 25-30 pages coming out 2-3 times a year. These largely ceased by 1991 due to work commitments by the Gang of Four but one major change took place in 1988 when the magazine changed its name to GIT IT and took on board the running of the Eddie Cochran Fan Club. Although production of the magazine ceased the work of the Club didn't. Printed information was channelled into NOW DIG THIS magazine and when I have time I will go through back issues of this and find numbers and months pertaining to Gene and list them for you. Many back issues are still available including wonderful photos not printed anywhere else. I will list address to contact and you can write.
Record and CD releases continued with the wonderful EMI Box Set and the Rock N Roll Masters CD. The Legendary Guitarists of Gene Vincent came out on the Magnum Music Group and the last few years have seen the release of the Rebel Heart series compiled from tapes in our own private record and tape collections along with interviews and tracks issued on vinyl collated onto CD for the first time. In 1998 volumes 5 and 6 in this series are planned along with a 'BEST OF' of volumes 1-4 as a double CD.
Steve has also managed the Blue Caps on every tour with our assistance. In 1987 we had Brean and Weymouth when DiAnne Kaslow came over. 1991 saw gigs in Sunderland, Zaragoza (Spain) and Hemsby, 1993 UK, France and Germany and 1997 Rockers Reunion, London.
So you see we are still very active and so many people have helped. Credits extend to Sam Powell with video, Derek Henderson with discography, Adrian White with the Johnny Meeks Fan Club and to so many others. Our Club is well respected and we have so many honorary members proud to be associated with Gene. - From the UK, Terry Dene, Wee Willie Harris, Marty Wilde, Joe Brown, Alvin Stardust, Chas Hodges, Chas McDevitt, Robert Plant, Richie Blackmore, David Oxterby. From the US, Sonny Burgess, Charlie Gracie, Ronnie Dawson, D J Fontana, the late Johnny Carroll. From politics, Neil Kinnock. The future for preserving the memory and legacy of Gene Vincent is enormous. This year, obviously with the induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, albeit late will add greatly to his calibre.
The NET, so to speak. is reaching people worldwide as it was never able to do before. There are still new tracks to be released. The new Dallas demos are now imminent and we are pursuing the owner of the last recordings at ANNAHEIM. Rockstar have long promised to issue recordings from the early 60's TV and radio recordings. The Rebel Hearts continue. Publication wise Steve Mandich is putting together a book about Gene's last 2/3 years. Rob Finnis has the manuscript completed on the DEFINITIVE biography of Gene.
We throw our hat into the ring with the offer to contribute our piece. We are not KNOW ALLS but hope to bring our enthusiasm to the Web Site which has been our joy to experience for so many years. You can write to me anytime with suggestions of what you would like to see on this page along with any questions you may have.
MR BOB ERSKINE
12 RAVELSTON WAY
CARNMONEY
CO ANTRIM BT36 6PL
NORTHERN IRELAND
A Review: REBEL HEART 6
April 24th 1999 sees the release on Magnum Force of a new Gene Vincent CD Rebel Heart Vol. 6. CD MF 101. This excellent series brings together a set of performances relating to the latter days of Gene's career with sessions of Gene with the Wild Angels and the Houseshakers. There are several interviews included with Emeror Rosko and Johnny Moran but the real scoop is a 27 minute interview Gene and David Simmonds broadcast on "Scene & Heard" four days after Gene's death. This is known as the last interview and to say that it was aggressive is an understatement. The rest of the CD is is made up of the remaining tracks from Johnny Meeks "Skip A Rope" LP and two tracks from the 1980 Rollin' Rock Album "Forever Gene Vincent" which features Johnny Meeks with Melody Jean Vincent and then Ray Campi. This excellent series continues to bring Gene's fans rare studio and radio performances. Steve Aynsleys excellent sleeve notes state that 'The well may not have run dry' relating to further unreleased material of Gene which would make up further Rebel Heart issues.
The track listing is as follows:
1. Good Golly Miss Molly - 1min 41secs
2 Lonesome Whistle - 1min 58secs - GENE VINCENT and the WILD ANGELS - UK rehearsals 1969
3. Be-Bop-A-Lula - 2min 44secs - GENE VINCENT and the WILD ANGELS, Eamon Andrews Show, Thames Television, UK, 1969
4. Interview - 1min 24 secs - GENE VINCENT with the EMPEROR ROSKO, UK, 8th November 1969
5. Baby Blue - 1min 33secs
6. Be-Bop-A-Lula - 2min 48secs
7. Long Tall Sally - 2min 08secs - GENE VINCENT and the WILD ANGELS, Isle of Wight, 1969
8. I Could Never Love You - 2min 30secs
9. Alone In This World - 2min 09secs
10. Pain And Heartache - 2min 14secs
11. You're My Bright Day - 2min 03secs
12. Feelings Of You - 2min 38secs - JOHNNY MEEKS and the DETOURS, 1969
13. Whole Lotta Shakin' - 2min 43secs - GENE VINCENT with the HOUSESHAKERS, Top Gear, BBC Radio 1, 6th Feb 1971
14. Say Mama - 2min 20secs
15 Rocky Road Blues - 2min 36secs
16 Baby Blue - 4min 38secs - GENE VINCENT with the HOUSEBREAKERS and JOHNNY MORAN, All Our Yesterdays, BBC Radio 1, 14th Feb 1971
17 The Last Interview - 27min 37secs - GENE VINCENT with DAVID SIMMONDS, Scene & Heard, BBC Radio 1, 16th October 1971
18 Say Mama -2min 02secs - MELODY JEAN VINCENT with JOHNNY MEEKS, Rollin' Rock, 1980
19 Lotta Lovin'- 2min 03secs - RAY CAMPI with JOHNNY MEEKS, Rollin' Rock
Tracks 1 to 3 and 5 to 7
Gene Vincent with the Wild Angels
Gene Vincent - Vocals
John Hawkins - Lead Guitar
Billy Kingston - Piano
Rod Cotter - Bass
Bob O'Connor - Drums
Tracks 8 to 12
Johnny Meeks and the Detours
Johnny Meeks - Vocals and Lead Guitar
Red Rhodes - Steel Guitar
Tom Brooks - Rhythm Guitar
Biff Adam - Drums
Don Holiman - Bass
Garland Frady - Acoustic Guitar
Tracks 13 to 18
Gene Vincent with the Houseshakers
Gene Vincent - Vocals
Terry Clemson - Lead Guitar
John Earl - Sax
Jimmy Wallis - Bass
Les Warren - Drums
Track 18
Melody Jean Vincent
Melody Jean Vincent - Vocals
Johnny Meeks - Lead Guitar
Ray Campi - Bass
Jay Phillips - Rhythm Guitar
Jim Durbin - Drums
Rip Masters - Piano
Track 19
Ray Campi
Ray Campi - Vocals
otherwise as track 18 minus Piano
A Review: More New Gene Vincent Material
NEW RELEASE: Friday April 24th 1998 saw the release of a new CD by the Magnum Music Group of previously unreleased 'LIVE' Gene Vincent recordings from the early to mid 60's in the UK. This completes an amazing month for new Gene Vincent product having already seen the new Rollercoaster/Dragon Street CD - The Lost Dallas Demo Sessions and Derek Henderson's book - A Gene Vincent Discography. The CD is entitled Rebel Heart Volume 5 and the Catalogue number is CDMF 099.
The track listing is as follows:
1 ROCKY ROAD BLUES
2 FRANKIE & JOHNNY
3 WILD CAT
4 RIGHT HERE ON EARTH (Gene Vincent and the Firing Squad from Boy Meets Girl TV Show 1959.)
5 BE BOP A LULA
6 BLUEJEAN BOP
7 ROCKY ROAD BLUES (Gene Vincent and the Fleerekkers from Saturday Club 1961.)
8 BE BOP A LULA
9 IF YOU WANT MY LOVIN'
10 MISTER LONLINESS (Gene Vincent with Bob Miller and the Miller Men from Parade of the Pops 1961.)
11 ROCKY ROAD BLUES
12 SUMMERTIME
13 I'M GOIN HOME
14 TUTTI FRUTTI (Gene Vincent with Sounds Inc from Saturday Club 1962.)
15 CRAZY BEAT
16 RIP IT UP
17 FRANKIE & JOHNNY 18 CRAZY BEAT
19 ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT
20 I'M GONNA CATCH ME A RAT
21 LONG TALL SALLY (Gene Vincent and the Outlaws from Saturday Club 1963.)
22 SUZIE Q
23 GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY
24 SHE SHE LITTLE SHEILA
25 ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN (Gene Vincent with Sounds Inc from Saturday Club 1963.)
This is a most important release as it collates most of Gene's Radio and TV work on one CD. The sleeve notes are written by Steve Aynsley - Editor of GIT IT and includes recording details, personnel line ups and broadcasting dates. Obviously the tapes have been assembled from differing sources and the notes include a quality statement about the sound which varies. However, a magnificent job has been carried out by NILS SOLBERG to restore these tapes and one cannot overstate the historic value of these tracks. Magnum music must be congratulated for their dedication in keeping the music of Gene Vincent alive through this Rebel Heart series and do not be surprised to see a Volume 6 before the end of the year. BOB ERSKINE
For purchase details write to: MAGNUM DIRECT, MAGNUM HOUSE, HIGH STREET, LANE END, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, HP14 3JG, UNITED KINGDOM. Tel: 44(0)1494 882858 - Fax: 44(0)1494 882631 - E-Mail music@tkomagnum.co.uk
