"That's News to Me" - Archive #6

Country "Concourse Hall of Fame" at Nashville Airport

Sadly, airports are the #1 location for Sudden Cardiac Arrest. When completed, the Concourse of Fame will place an Automated External Defibrillator within 60 seconds of any public area. A Star and Plaque honoring a Country Music Legend is permanently mounted next to the life-saving device. Sponsors have included St. Thomas Hospital, Tennessee Christian Medical Center, Record Companies, a number of Country Music Legends and a Star donated to honor Loudilla, Loretta and Kay Johnson (the Founders of IFCO [International Fan Club Organization]). The Stars are not merely tributes to the Legends and sponsors but recognition of humanitarian efforts.

Tupelo, MS. Elvis Presley Festival a Success

Thousands of Hank Fans Flock to Georgiana

First Annual Charlie Lamb Awards

Jack Hurst is the first recipient of the Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism in the category of lifetime achievement. Jack Hurst has been writing about country music since the late 1960s. He was the first fulltime music writer for The Tennessean, the first Nashville contributing editor for Country Music Magazine, and the first regular country music writer, for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chicago Tribute. In 1981 Jack Hurst was the first recipient of the Country Music Association's media achievement award. Jack Hurst has also been published in Play and Bluegrass Unlimited. Tribute Media Services syndicated two of his country music columns each week from 1975 to 1999 with the columns appearing in newspapers from Connecticut to California, from Texas to Wisconsin.

Jon Johnson is the first annual recipient of the Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism in the contemporary category for his series of articles on trucking songs published in Country Standard Time. His nominator commented. "This is without a doubt the finest series we have ever run during the history of our magazine...The series traced the start of trucking songs from the 1930's through the current period with special focus on its heyday in the 1950's and 1960's with the likes of Red Simpson and Dick Curless. The series also included a great deal of information about probably the best known trucker song ever, "Convoy," along with more recent trucking musicians like Dale Watson."

BGRASS-L members will also be interested in sessions at ICMC such as David Pruett's "Preserving Cultural Identity: WPAQ Radio and the Dissemination of Bluegrass and Old-Time Music," Linda Smith's "What Is that thing? The Place of the Mountain Dulcimer in America's Musical Past, Present, and Future," Kevin Fontenot's "High Geared Daddies and Nail Scarred Hands: Themes in the Music of Jimmie Davis," Kristine McKusker's "Gossiping About Grinder's Switch: Minnie Pearl and Women's Comedy on the Grand Ole Opry," and Michael Ann Williams "The Barn Dance and the Folk Festival: John Lair, ÔStudent of the Origins of American Folk Music.'"

ICMC will include other special features such as Dr. Ulrich Dieter Einbrodt from the University of Giessen, Germany presenting the Thursday evening keynote talk on "Country in the Web: The New MP3 Stars and Their Music." Thursday evening willl also feature pickin' lead by Danny Allen. Friday, 1 June will include a special panel discussion lead by Ronnie Pugh dealing with the revival of interest in Old Time Country and the impact of the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Persons interested in attending may contact James E. Akenson at JAkenson@tntech.edu.

See Jon's in-depth article on Viva Las Vegas 2001 at: Countrystandardtime.com - (scroll down to:Rockabilly makes it Viva Las Vegas)

Psycobillie Rodeo

Hi, My name is Mike Lennon of the Psycobillie Rodeo your site reviewed our CD 'Welcome to the Rodeo' in American Music Magazine issue 81 we got hooked up with Spindrift records in the UK and Europe because of the review and got some good local reviews and two appearances on KNIX in Phoenix. We are still houseband at the Rusty Spur and we have just released our second CD a live recording from the Spur and would appreciate a review in your magazine. You can email me at leilanic@home.com. Thanks for your help, Mike Lennon, Psycobillie Rodeo - leilanic@home.com

ROOTS OF THE RODEO.
The roots of the rodeo reach back to New York City and the summer of '87 when Mike Lennon formed the Psychobillies with Marc West bass; vocals Doc Miller lead guitar Vince Hancock drums. With lots of personnel changes[A trend that continues to this day]The Psychobillies kept going until Jan. of' 92 playing NYC punk clubs [Downtown Beirut; the Spiral Kenny's Castaways]as well as the NY, NJ and Long Island C&W circuit the Psychobillies also recorded a never completed LP for SUN records in the summer of '91. Some of the various members included the late NYC guitarist Kenny Gwynne, former Johnny Thunders bassist Jill Wycoff multi instrumentalist Gene Tambor and Berklee School Of Music graduate Danny Rybar. In the summer of '92 Mike Lennon moved to Ajo Arizona where he wrote 62 songs in the winter of '93. Following a brief return to NYC in the summer and fall '94 where he played bass for the Parlor Dogs Mike Lennon returned to Phoenix playing solo around town till he landed a solo spot at the Rusty Spur in Feb '96. In the summer of '97 he formed the New Psycobillies with Kris Crow lead guitar; and Walter Bush bass. Following Kris and Walter's departure in the winter of '98 Jimmy Homick rhythm guitar and Gabe Dixon lead guitar joined and with a name change to Psychobillie Rodeo the band with Rick Parnell drums and Mike Wood bass recorded their debut CD 'Welcome to the rodeo for Midwest records in the spring of '98. The CD was recorded at Vintage recorders with Billy Moss engineer for Stevie Nicks; Gin Blossoms the CD was released in the summer of '98 and sold quite well locally and has been distributed in Europe and the UK by Spindrift records. Since April of'99 Psycobillie Rodeo has received favorable reviews in local as well as national and international music magazines. In the winter of 2000 Gabe Dixon was replaced by Kenny Dye and with the addition drummer CB Parker drums continue to be house band at the Rusty Spur and have recorded a live CD recorded at the Spur called Raw Rodeo the CD will soon be available through Spindrift records internationally and a new studio CD will be ready in the winter of 2001-2002 Psycobillie Rodeo also can be seen occasionally at the Arizona country club and have done some big gigs like the Parada Del Sol and have twice appeared on KNIX Arizona's no.1 country station.

Marty Stuart Helps Open New Country Hall of Fame

Stuart - who is also president of the institution's Board of Officers and Trustees - previewed several of the artifacts recently at the museum. Among the items on display were Hank Williams' fringed purple shirt, Williams' handwritten lyrics for "I Saw the Light," Jerry Lee Lewis' black patent-leather boots, Patsy Cline's travel case, legendary designer Nudie Cohn's own rhinestone-spangled suit and Lamar Sorrento's portrait of Bill Monroe. These items and many others will be on long-term exhibit at the museum.

Stuart spoke movingly about his desire to help preserve country music's legacy and of his involvement with the Hall of Fame and Museum. "Every detail about these boots, these suits, these lyrics, it came from somebody's soul," Stuart said. "This building doesn't have a square inch in it that doesn't have soul. It's a perfect setting É and vantage point for country music. It's our treasure chest."

Stuart explained how he originally began to collect and preserve the artifacts comprising his collection. "It started out as a real innocent hobby after I got my job with Lester [Flatt] when I was 13," he said.

The young Stuart - who has worked with many country greats over the course of his career - continued to preserve the objects he saw around him. When he was in Johnny Cash's band, for example, Stuart would retrieve and store set lists after the Man in Black threw them away.

As his collection eventually expanded to include costumes, instruments and other memorabilia, Stuart became even more dedicated to preserving country's legacy. "It became a mission and a crusade to preserve our heritage and our treasures," he said.

When asked what part of his collection he valued most dearly, Stuart laughed. "Connie Smith," he said with a smile, referring to his wife the country singer.

-Chris Dickinson

Rockabilly Hall of Fame photos of the above event.

Black cloud still following Jerry Lee

His rocketing two-year rock career on Sun records was stopped dead when he made that sad trip to England in May 1958 with his young wife, Myra. The English didn't mind so much that she was his third wife or that she was his distant cousin, but the fact that the "god of glissando" married a 13-year-old child sent Fleet Street into a feeding frenzy usually reserved for the foibles of their own cousin-friendly royalty. The union with Myra ended in 1970, which was the start of a long, hard decade for the Ferriday Fireball. The IRS was on his tail.

Wife No. 4 died in a swimming pool. A year later Wife No. 5 died of a drug overdose. In September 1976 he accidentally shot his bass player, Butch Owens, in the chest. Owens lived to sue The Killer.

Then he was arrested outside Graceland, reportedly waving a large pistol as he tried to hook up with Elvis, who must have failed to tell his security guards that The Killer was coming over.

Now his name is popping up in news reports of the murder of actor Robert Blake's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, who claimed she bore The Killer's love child. If that isn't a sack of woe enough for one man, there was the horrible 1989 biopic "Great Balls of Fire" starring Dennis Quaid as a living cartoon of The Killer. Now a sore throat keeps the 65-year-old legend from his fans gathered from far and wide to see him last May 5. When Jerry Lee's absence was announced to the full house, maybe 300 people shuffled out. T he rest stayed to see what would happen.

Riley and his swinging pickup band, members of Jimmy Sutton's Four Charms led by guitarist and Madison-native Joel Paterson, were asked to stand in for The Killer. It didn't matter that the 67-year-old Riley had to be in Memphis, Tenn., the next day to open a show for Bob Dylan. He skipped catching a plane that night, performed a rousing show and then drove all the way to Memphis. "I passed out after that," Riley said in a phone call after catching his breath this week.

"I believe Jerry Lee's fans know him," said Phil Doran, Oneida's entertainment coordinator. "They probably got a better show out of Billy Lee than they would have out of Jerry Lee." "Billy Lee did an admirable job for what he was forced into," said Jerry Lee fan and show attendee Bill Barker of Appleton. "This would have been the fourth time I would have seen him," Barker said. "I told the people I was with, you never know with Jerry Lee, but I didn't expect him not to show."

* E-mail Jim Lundstrom at jlundstrom@smgpo.gannett.com.

Dallas Observer Archived Stories of Interest

06/18/1998 - Wild Man Blues. Hasil Adkins drinks too much, screws too much, and rocks too much .

04/23/1998 - Everything Old. Rockabilly Queen Kim Lenz moves ahead by looking backward.

03/26/1998 - Git It. After years of detective work, Gene Vincent's Lost Dallas Sessions resurface .

01/22/1998 - Rave on Cats, He Cried. Carl Perkins, 1932-1998.

07/31/1997 - A Dream Deferred. Gene Summers hasn't had to work a day job since 1958, but it took him more than 30 years to get back to the music he loved

02/15/1996 - Back on the Bus. HighTone's Roadhouse tour revives rock and roll caravan.

11/09/1995 - King Curtis. A rockabilly hero is revered abroad, ignored at home.

05/04/1995 - Roll Over, Chuck Berry. In rock and roll, 'legend' is another word for 'forgotten' .

above research courtesy Jon E. Johnson

'What'd I Say: The Atlantic Story' Chronicles
50 Years of Music As told by Ahmet Ertegun

In "What'd I Say," set for a June release through A Publishing, Ahmet Ertegun, founder (in 1947) and Chairman/CEO of Atlantic Records, recounts the musical journey he began in the 30's and continues today. Ahmet's story is augmented by reminiscences and contributions from dozens of the artists, producers and musical architects with whom he has worked.

The Atlantic story unfolds chronologically through stunning photography: the book includes 900 rarely seen photographs by William Gottlieb, Jean-Pierre Leloir, Bob Gruen, William Claxton, David Gahr, Lynn Goldsmith, Neal Preston, Patrick McBride and many more.

"What'd I Say" is punctuated by nine specially-commissioned essays from renowned authors/music journalists -- Greil Marcus, Nat Hentoff, Lenny Kaye, Robert Gordon, Robert Christgau, Vince Aletti, David Fricke, Will Friedwald and Barney Hoskyns. These writings are placed throughout the book and help define the different themes, musical styles and genres from Atlantic's inception to the present day.

Five years in the making, "What'd I Say" has been edited and compiled by Perry Richardson ("Blinds and Shutters" with Terry Southern, "Virgin: A History of Virgin Records," "The Early Stones"). The book was designed by renowned magazine and book art director, Marc Balet for Mixed Business. "What'd I Say: The Atlantic Story" is distributed by Welcome Rain in the USA.
ISBN: 1-56649-048-0, $75.00

Winter Dance Party Makes a Month-Long Stop
at Gold Strike Casino Resort

Relive Those Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
With the Best of Freddy Fender

UK Rhythm Riot!

Rat Fink Creator Roth Dies

EMusic Offers Rare, Early Recordings
of Elvis Presley & Johnny Cash in MP3

EMusic is offering these recordings inexpensively and conveniently in the MP3 format at http://www.emusic.com/features/hayride/ . Every two weeks, the Web site will be updated to feature new artists and titles from the legendary Hayride archives. Besides the classic music recordings, EMusic also features extremely rare photographs from the Hayride, including a collection of Elvis images from 1954 and historical photos of Shreveport radio station KWKH.

"The release of these historic recordings highlights one of the major benefits of MP3 distribution for music fans," said Ray Farrell, EMusic's director of Content Acquisition and Management. "This vintage material has been unavailable for years because issuing it on CD has simply not been cost effective. The efficiencies of downloadable music allow us to blow off the dust and make it easily accessible. We're pleased to be able to provide our EMusic Unlimited members with exclusive access to these gems from the birth of rock & roll."

Short Career, Long Shadow

"Ritchie really didn't have enough of a track record for the voters," says Bob Keane, owner of Del-Fi Records and the man who discovered Valens. "They have their own way of evaluating these things. I mean, he wasn't even nominated until two years ago. "They didn't consider the fact that somebody who had been a performing artist for only eight months had three Top 50 records, a motion picture on his life and a postage stamp of his very own." Keane and other Valens fans, including family members, launched an aggressive postcard campaign in the mid-'90s in hopes of persuading hall of fame voters of Valens' artistic validity. The late singer certainly was getting attention elsewhere. Both the biographical film "La Bamba" and its soundtrack album by Los Lobos were big hits in 1987. Three years later, Valens was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His youthful face appeared on a U.S. postage stamp in 1993.

And the long wait for hall of fame membership ends Monday. Valens will be inducted by Ricky Martin at the annual dinner in New York, along with Aerosmith, soul singer Solomon Burke, the Flamingos, Michael Jackson, Queen, Paul Simon and Steely Dan. Keane, who has just finished a book on the history of Del-Fi Records, won't be attending the ceremony, he says, because members of Valens' family decided to accept the award themselves. But he's thrilled with the recognition.

"Ritchie was an exceptional person in a lot of ways," says Keane, 79. "Coming from the barrio and growing up with delinquents, he managed to overcome all that, not get involved and still gain the respect of his people. He was a tough guy, but he didn't want to fool around. He was into music like [nobody else]. Music was his life." Valens' reputation rests chiefly on two recordings he made in Keane's home studio in Silver Lake in 1958. "Donna," a plaintive tune he wrote for the girl who stole his heart, is one of the quintessential ballads of the '50s. The single entered the national pop charts on Nov. 24, 1958, and soared to No. 2.

The flip side of "Donna" was "La Bamba," a historic merging of soulful Mexican tradition and riotous rock 'n' roll, a wedding huapango from Veracruz reincarnated as an American party song. This side of the single entered the charts Dec. 29 and climbed to No. 22. But Valens' legacy goes much deeper than the two recordings. It also includes the influence he has had as the first Latino rock star. "Ritchie Valens was the first Mexican American who took American music to the four corners of the world, and we're very delighted he's finally being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," says guitarist Carlos Santana, who was inducted himself in 1998. "He and Selena carried the dreams and aspirations of a lot of people."

Born on May 13, 1941, in Pacoima, Richard Stephen Valenzuela was one of four children of Steven Joseph Valenzuela, a native Californian, and his wife, Concepcion, who came from Arizona and was known as Connie. Steven, who suffered from diabetes, worked at a variety of jobs, including pipe setter, janitor and horse trainer. Connie (who died in 1987) was employed at a Saugus munitions plant and worked as a waitress. The couple separated when Ritchie was about 3. He lived with his father until the latter's death in 1951, then moved in with his mother and siblings.

He was fascinated by music at an early age, idolizing such rock pioneers as Little Richard and Bo Diddley. But Ritchie also absorbed the old Mexican canciones he would hear at family gatherings. In 1957, Valens, who built his first guitar, became a member of the Silhouettes, a Latin garage group from the San Fernando Valley (no relation to the group of the same name with the hit "Get a Job"). The following year, he was discovered by Keane, who also helped launch Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Sam Cooke. "I saw him at a little concert in a movie theater," recalls Keane, sitting in Del-Fi's Hollywood headquarters surrounded by gold records and rock memorabilia. "There he was, a Latino kid doing just a few riffs and a couple of songs. But I was very impressed by his stage demeanor. The girls were going crazy, screaming."

"Bob was like a dad to him," offers Reyes, Valens' aunt and president of his fan club, which she says numbers about 400. "He was the one who discovered him, and he was always taking care of him. We were very happy when we found out that he gave Ritchie money to buy a house for his mom. It was one of the biggest thrills he had in his life." Keane brought Valens to his home studio, where they began recording demos. Valens' career got off to a fast start when his first single, the raucous "Come On, Let's Go," peaked at No. 42 on the national pop chart in November 1958. The next month Valens recorded an album at Pacoima Junior High School and lip-synced a song in the movie "Go, Johnny, Go." The next month marked the beginning of the fateful Winter Dance Party tour. On the tour, Valens was having a hard time adjusting to the merciless weather. Desperate to avoid a long ride from Clear Lake, Iowa, to the next show in Moorhead, Minn., on a bus with no heat, Valens asked Holly to take him on the small airplane that the Texas rocker had chartered for the night. The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) had already claimed a seat, and Holly's guitarist, Tommy Allsup, also wanted to fly, so he and Valens tossed a coin to decide who would take the coveted final seat. Valens won.

At about 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, the plane crashed in a frozen cornfield minutes after takeoff, killing everyone on board. The event was memorialized in Don McLean's "American Pie" as "the day the music died." While many artists from the '50s with more hits than Valens have become forgotten names in the oldies bins, Valens' stature has grown in the intervening decades--and not simply because of his cultural significance. "Valens was more than just a teen prodigy," says Tom Waldman, co-author of "Land of a Thousand Dances: Chicano Rock 'n' Roll from Southern California." "I'm always amazed at how many different styles of music he was comfortable with. He was also instrumental in the development of the California guitar sound, which you hear in surf music a few years later. Given that he died at 17, his body of work is pretty extraordinary. I mean, listen to everything he did and compare it to what John Lennon, Mick Jagger or Bob Dylan [did at that age]. Those guys were barely getting started at 17."

New CDs from Rollin' Rock Records

Important Notice Regarding the "Americiana"

It has recently come to our attention that another show/event is being advertised as "The Americana Weekend" this is supposedly to take place in Kent early May. We legally own the following names that are connected to our world renowned event, they are:
NOTTS AMERICANA .... AMERICANA ASSOCIATES ... AMERICANA INTERNATIONAL ... AMERICANA INTERNATIONAL RECORDINGS UK ... all are subsidiaries of AMERICANA PROMOTIONS Ltd.

We do not own the name "AMERICANA" singularly this is not allowed legally being a word used to describe items/music from days gone bye in America. However we can legally stop anyone using a 'like' sounding name that is used to promote a near identical item/event/festival etc. We do not wish to take legal action against anyone firmly believing that there is room for more professional events/festivals here in the UK. But we draw the line when the people concerned are blatantly advertising their event to be the same as "Americana International". With twenty one years behind us we have the skill, professionalism and credibility to give people a truly great event/festival, that will (and has) make them want to return year after year.

Therefore we want to make it perfectly clear to everyone that we do not have anything to do with other similar sounding events/festivals here in the UK. The event is staged annually in July at the County Showground Winthorpe Newark Notts and will be there for the fore-seeable future.

Under no circumstances will we ever stage/organise a similar event/festival anywhere eosle in the UK. Please do not be duped by these very silly people who are basically just jumping on the band wagon ...

Regards,
Chris & Bev Jackson
(Americana Promotions Ltd)