Rock’n’roll

52. Johnnie Ray – Just Walkin’ in the Rain (1956)

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The Intro

The Christmas number 1 of 1956 was a rather downbeat affair, but a good one. This was Johnnie Ray’s second number 1, after the lusty Such a Night in 1954. He had been immortalised in film too that year, starring in the famous musical-comedy-drama There’s No Business Like Show Business alongside Marilyn Monroe. He had seven further top 10 hits between 1954-56.

Before

Just Walkin’ in the Rain had an interesting genesis: it had been written in 1952 by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley. They weren’t a songwriting duo – they were prisoners at Tennessee State Prison in Nashville.

The pair were walking across the prison courtyard on a miserable rainy day, when allegedly Bragg remarked, ‘Here we are just walking in the rain, and wondering what the girls are doing’. Riley suggested this would be the good basis for a song, and within minutes Bragg composed a couple of verses. However, he couldn’t read or write, so he asked Riley to write down the lyrics in exchange for a songwriting credit.

Review

 

At first Ray wasn’t keen on recording it, but producer extraordinaire Mitch Miller persuaded him to give it a go. With his reputation for songs of heartbreak, Ray was an ideal candidate for a cover, and Miller was proven right.

Backed by the Ray Conniff Singers and a mystery whistler (one of the most memorable aspects of the tune), Ray’s version perfectly captures the almost cosy melancholy at the heart of the song. Yes, he’s forlorn and lovesick, but you get the feeling he’s kind-of enjoying feeling sorry for himself. No wonder Morrissey became such a fan – was this track the source of inspiration for Well I Wonder by The Smiths?

Ray is in fine voice too, and makes the song so much more effective than your average crooner would. It reminds me of the infamous ‘You’re Never Alone with a Strand’ ad campaign of 1959, in which a solitary man walks the wet streets, lighting a Strand cigarette to cheer himself up. The ads were soon dropped due to creating an association of Strand with sad, lonely men. Just Walkin’ in the Rain would have provided a perfect soundtrack.

The Outro

Despite the cultural shift that rock’n’roll brought about, the number 1s of 1956 were still on the conservative side. Music’s popularity was increasing with the rise of the teenager – the top 20 had expanded to a top 30, and singles by Elvis Presley and Lonnie Donegan threatened to hold the top spot, but were kept away by safer choices by the older generation. Come 1957, however, several big names finally made it to pole position, in a year that was made up of entirely male number 1 singles.

The Info

Written by

Johnny Bragg & Robert Riley

Producer

Mitch Miller

Weeks at number 1

7 (16 November 1956-3 January 1957)

Trivia

Births

19 December: The KLF musician Jimmy Caughty 
23 December: Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray 
28 December: Violinist Nigel Kennedy 

Deaths

16 December: Artist Nina Hamnett 

Meanwhile…

22 November- 8 December: The Olympics took place in Melbourne, Australia.  Great Britain and Northern Ireland won six gold, seven silver and 11 bronze medals.

29 November: Petrol rationing was introduced due to petrol blockades caused by the Suez Crisis.

23 December, the British and French troops withdrew from Suez after pressure from the UN and US.

19 December: Dr John Bodkin Adams was arrested for the murder of patient Edith Alice Morrell.

25 December: The long-running advertising campaign for PG Tips starring ‘talking’ chimps began, with the voices provided by Peter Sellers.

48. The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon – Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1956)

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The Intro

Following a few lacklustre affairs, here’s a breath of fresh air at number 1. The Teenagers with Frankie Lymon became the youngest act to date to rule the roost, with this classic rock’n’roll and doo-wop number.

Before

Franklyn Joseph ‘Frankie’ Lymon was born 30 September 1942 in Harlem, New York. His parents were both singers in gospel group The Harlemaire, and young Lymon sang with two of his brothers in the Harlemaire Juniors.

At the tender age of 12, he was working as a grocery boy to help his struggling family when he became friends with a doo-wop group known as The Coup de Villes – lead singer Herman Santiago, plus Joe Negroni, Jimmy Merchant and Sherman Games.

There are several versions of who came up with the song, and indeed several court battles have ensued over publishing rights, but a neighbour of The Premiers, as they were known in 1955, handed the group some love letters written by his girlfriend, to use as inspiration. By the time they had their audition with tough producer George Goldner, they were known as The Teenagers. Santiago was either ill, or late, but whatever the reason, Lymon had a crack at the lead, and the group recorded their biggest single and one of rock’n’roll’s most memorable hits. Why Do Fools Fall in Love influenced the Jackson 5 and spawned the girl-group sound, as well as hundreds of imitators. And with Lymon barely a teenager.

Review

https://youtu.be/bQ45VxN6UqE

For a song recorded such a long time ago, Why Do Fools Fall in Love still sounds exciting. It’s bursting with youthful energy, and a large part of that is down to Lymon’s lead vocal. This was rock’n’roll but filtered through the innocence of such a young group with little experience of the world. And the saxophone break is a blast. The song charted highly in the US, but performed even better in the UK. And then, before their career had barely begun, things began to fall apart.

After

Tensions understandably began to surface when the next single was credited to Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. Early in 1957, Goldner began pushing Lymon as a solo act, and his departure was made official by September. New lead vocalist Billy Lobrano made the group unusually mix-raced, with a white member adding to the black and Hispanic mix. But Lobrano didn’t hang around long and they were looking for another singer in 1958. 

While The Teenagers went through a string of replacement singers, to little success, Lymon’s career also went into freefall. They reunited briefly in 1965 but it didn’t last. He had become addicted to heroin at the age of 15, and died of an overdose on 27 February 1968 at his grandma’s house, aged only 25. 

Two more founder members died during the 70s – Games of a heart attack in 1977 and Negroni a year later of a cerebral haemorrhage. In the 80s they hired female singer Pearl McKinnon in a desperate attempt to mimic Lymon’s voice. Funk star Jimmy Castor also had a run as their lead vocalist. 

The Outro

These days it’s Santiago, along with Bobby Jay, Terry King and Terrance Farward who make up The Teenagers, but even now they bill themselves as Frankie Lymon’s Legendary Teenagers – a testament to Lymon’s star power.

The Info

Written by

Frankie Lymon & Morris Levy

Producer

Richard Barrett

Weeks at number 1

3 (20 July-9 August)

Trivia

Births

26 July: Sculptor Andy Goldsworthy 
8 August: Madness guitarist Chris Foreman 

Meanwhile…

22 July: Music newspaper Record Mirror published the first ever UK Albums Chart. They had their own version of the singles chart, but it is the New Musical Express charts that I use for this blog, as these are the ones recognised by the Official Charts Company as canon until 1960. The first album at number 1 was Frank Sinatra’s classic Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!.

26 July: The Suez crisis began when Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser shocked the British government by announcing the nationalisation of the Suez Canal. Initially, Anthony Eden believed he had the country’s support in taking military action, and Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell agreed, but in the following weeks he took a more cautious tone.

47. Pat Boone – I’ll Be Home (1956)

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The Intro

Elvis-mania was finally in full effect on these shores – Heartbreak Hotel, Blue Suede Shoes and I Want You I Need You I Love You had all bothered the charts, but surprisingly not one hit the top. Record buyers chose the safer option instead, and on 15 June, Pat Boone toppled Ronnie Hilton and I’ll Be Home began five weeks at number 1.

Before

Boone was, according to Billboard, the second-biggest charting artist of the latter half of the 50s, only beaten by Elvis. Early Presley was raunchy, suggestive and dangerous. Pat Boone was not, but he sounded very similar and, like Elvis, was fond of taking songs by black artists and tailoring them to a white audience.

Patrick Charles Eugene Boone was born on 1 June 1934 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Boones moved to Nashville, Tennessee when he was two. He began recording while at university, signing with Republic Records in 1954 and then Dot Records the following year. The hits began that year, when he covered Fats Domino’s Ain’t That a Shame. This hit number one in the US, and seven on these shores.

Boone was about to begin a career in film too when I’ll Be Home hit the big time. The song, written by Ferdinand Washington and Stan Lewis, had originally been a hit for doo-wop group The Flamingos. Boone picked Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti as its B-side.

Review

I’ll Be Home is similar to Love Me Tender. Written from the point of view of a soldier away on duty, it features a sappy spoken-word interlude, and is very mediocre. But Boone was and is overtly Christian, which would have pleased the older record buyers back then. As far as I know he didn’t shake his hips either. So, in short, Elvis-lite. Sometimes there really is no accounting for sense and taste in the UK singles chart.

After

Nonetheless, Boone was incredibly successful, and could afford to turn down films and songs that didn’t hold up to his strong conservative views – he even turned down the opportunity to work with Marilyn Monroe. DC Comics turned him into a comic strip. I can’t imagine it would have been very exciting, and I wouldn’t expect a Hollywood adaptation any time soon.

The British Invasion ended his peak years and he moved into a more natural genre for him, namely gospel. His film career was still going well, however, and among his many movies he starred in all-star epic The Greatest Story Ever Told in 1965.

In the 70s he set up his own label, Lamb & Lion Records, and signed to Motown country subsidiary Melodyland in 1974. 1978 saw Boone and his daughter involved in a scandal involving an investigation into celebrities endorsing products making false claims when he and his four daughters appeared in an advert for Acne-Statin.

In the 90s he recorded an album of heavy metal covers called In a Metal Mood: No More Mr Nice Guy. He wore a leather jacket on TV to promote it and was subsequently sacked from TV show Gospel America. It took an explanation that he was parodying himself to get his job back.

The Outro

I may sound rather disparaging of Boone, but it’s hard to work up much enthusiasm for a man who was very vocal in supporting both the Vietnam and Iraq wars. He believed that people should ‘respect their elders’ and blindly follow their Presidents into any folly they may choose. In recent years he has also tried to draw links between gay rights protests and terrorist attacks, claimed Barack Obama was ineligible to serve as President, and compared liberalism to cancer. If I was forced to go see one of the many thousands of Elvis impersonators, Pat Boone would be very low down on my list.

Trivia

Written by

Ferdinand Washington & Stan Lewis

Producer

Randy Wood

Weeks at number 1

5 (15 June – 19 July) *BEST-SELLING SINGLE OF THE YEAR*

Trivia

Births

15 July: Joy Division singer Ian Curtis

Deaths

22 June: Writer Walter de la Mare

Meanwhile…

5 July: The Clean Air Act was passed as a result of the events of December 1952 when the singles chart was in its infancy. London had been gripped by the worst smog outbreak it had ever known. The Great Smog of London had lasted five days and is believed to have killed approximately 12,000 people.

9 July: Toy manufacturers Mettoy introduce Corgi Toys model cars, remembered fondly by boys and girls for years to come.

44. Kay Starr with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra & Chorus – (The) Rock and Roll Waltz (1956)

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The Intro

US jazz singer Kay Starr was the third person to have a UK number 1 back in 1953, and had added some much needed light relief after the previous two chart-toppers with the poppy Comes A-Long A-Love.

Before

Starr was ahead of her time and one of the main influences for the early rock’n’roll acts. So she must have seemed a natural choice when the older generation decided to have a stab at this new genre that Bill Haley & His Comets had got so many teenagers all fired up over. ‘Just imagine the crossover appeal such a song could have!’, writers Shorty Allen and Roy Alfred must have thought. ‘We’ll stick the genre in the title, get Kay Starr to sing it, and the teens AND their parents will go out and buy it!’

And while it seems that was the case (after all, (The) Rock and Roll Waltz did knock It’s Almost Tomorrow off the top for a week) it’s a big missed opportunity.

Review

https://youtu.be/OksecMs-c-M

For a start, apart from perhaps the bass, this tune is sadly lacking in both rock and roll. It’s just a cheesy novelty waltz. Starr sings of coming home late one night after a date, to hear a ‘jump tune’ coming from the front room. What the hell are her parents doing in there? Oh, don’t worry, the silly buggers are just trying to waltz to one of Starr’s rock’n’roll records! The chorus is exceedingly naff:

‘A-one, two, and then rock
A-one, two, and then roll
They did the rock and roll waltz
A-rock, two, three, a-roll, two, three
It looked so cute to me
I love the rock and roll waltz’

Apparently Starr wasn’t a fan of (The) Rock and Roll Waltz either, but gave it a bash anyway, and it paid dividends, so who am I to criticise?

After

(The) Rock and Roll Waltz was Starr’s final hit in the UK, as rock’n’roll continued to grow, with no further charting singles. She left Capitol Records in 1966 and from then on worked with smaller independent labels, recording mostly jazz and country material.

In addition to performing in revue-style tours, Starr duetted with Tony Bennett on his 2001 album Playin’ with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues.

The Outro

Starr died from complications of Alzheimer’s on 3 November 2016, aged 94. Despite her second number one, she will be remembered as an important part of the genesis of rock’n’roll.

The Info

Written by

Shorty Allen & Roy Alfred

Producer

Joe Carlton

Weeks at number 1

1 (30 March-5 April)

Trivia

Deaths

30 March: Writer Edmund Clerihew Bentley 

39. Bill Haley & His Comets – Rock Around the Clock (1955)

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The Intro

Finally! After nearly 40 blogs, rock’n’roll has arrived. Although not the first song of the genre (nobody really knows if such a song actually exists, although Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats is often credited as such), and not the best either, Rock Around the Clock is understandably credited as the tune that brought it to a wider audience, and influenced millions, including many youngsters who were taking note and went on to become star musicians themselves. Rock’n’roll was about feeling rather than form, about stripping away such soppy, sappy lyrics over flowery, string-packed instruments. There’s no wonder it helped bring about the dawn of the teenager. Why should young adults grow from children to instant adulthood? Why not have some fun first, before life gets too dull and dreary? Haley may have been way too old to be a teenager, but it didn’t matter. Rock Around the Clock represented the new young energy that would help sweep the country out of the post-war doldrums.

Before

Rock Around the Clock is believed to have been first written in 1952. Credited to Max C. Freedman and Jimmy De Knight (a pseudonym belonging to James E. Myers), it was first recorded by Sonny Day and His Knights, although apparently they’d always had Haley’s group in mind.

William John Clifton Haley was born in Highland, Michigan on 6 July 1925. When he was four he underwent an inner-ear mastoid operation which accidentally severed an optic nerve. This left him blind in his left eye for the rest of his life, and may explain why he grew a kiss curl over his right eye.

The Haley family moved to Bethel, Pennsylvania due to the effects of the Great Depression when he was seven. Both his parents were musicians (his mother originally came from Ulverston in Lancashire) and by the time he was 13, their son was singing and playing the guitar.

Two years later Haley left home to find fame. He spent the 40s in several bands, including The Down Homers and The Four Aces of Western Swing, and was even known as Silver Yodelling Bill Haley at one point.

By 1951 he was leading a country music act known as Bill Haley and the Saddlemen, but they changed their name to Bill Haley with Hayley’s Comets and adopted an early rock’n’roll sound after covering Rocket 88. They had their first hit with Crazy Man, Crazy, which is perhaps the first song of the genre to be shown on television, used on the soundtrack to a play starring James Dean. Soon after, they settled on Bill Haley & His Comets, and they were pianist Johnny Grande, steel guitarist Billy WIlliamson and bassist Marshall Lytle. Before long they had their first drummer, Earl Famous, who was soon replaced by Dick Richards.

In spring 1954 they began working with Milt Gabler, who had worked on several proto-rock’n’roll tracks previously. In their first session they recorded Rock Around the Clock as a last minute B-side to Thirteen Women And Only One Man In Town, a track about the survivors of a nuclear bomb.

Luckily for Haley and co, the son of a famous actor had become quite the fan of that B-side. 10-year-old Peter Ford was Glenn Ford’s son, and Glenn was due to co-star alongside Sidney Poitier in a film about teenage delinquents called Blackboard Jungle. He suggested to director Richard Brooks to stick the song over the opening credits. Swiftly capitalising on the attention, the song was re-released and spent two months at number 1 in the US. It was only a matter of time before their success was repeated in the UK, a nation starving for the return of the good times.

Review

I’m stating the obvious by saying it sounds quaint compared with the songs it later influenced, but there’s more raw energy packed into the opening of Rock Around the Clock than any UK number 1 up to that point. Haley’s voice commands you to take note and to have a good time, and the Comets ably assist, and so does guitarist Danny Cedrone, on loan from The Esquire Boys, who couldn’t think of a new solo and simply redid his performance on their earlier track Rock This Joint. It didn’t matter, it’s blistering and is easily the highlight of the song.

After

In a genre full of tragedy, Cedrone was one of the first victims. He never had chance to enjoy the group’s fame as a month after they had recorded Rock Around the Clock, he fell down some stairs and broke his neck, dying at the age of 33. By the time they became number 1, the Comets were a different group to the ones that recorded the song. In addition to Cedrone’s death, three other members left the group over money issues.

Before long, the younger acts they had helped influence suddenly made Bill Haley & His Comets look old and staid by comparison. They had become victims of the youth movement they helped usher in. Stardom lasted longer in Europe, where they enjoyed a few more years of being mobbed by fans. But rock’n’roll came and went many times over the years, with several revivals, and Rock Around the Clock was re-recorded several times and often reissued.

The Outro

Haley battled the booze during the 70s, and towards the end of his life he had a brain tumour. He died on 9 February 1981, aged 55 of ‘natural causes, most likely a heart attack’, according to his death certificate. But in a sense Rock Around the Clock‘s influence has made him immortal.

The Info

Written by

Max C Freedman & Jimmy De Knight

Producer

Milt Gabler

Weeks at number 1

5 (25 November-15 December 1955, 6-19 January 1956) *BEST-SELLING SINGLE OF THE DECADE*

Trivia

Births

30 November 1955: Singer Billy Idol
4 December: Conservative MP Philip Hammond
15 December: The Clash bassist Paul Simonon
6 January 1956: Presenter Angus Deayton/Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
9 January: Actress Imelda Staunton
17 January: Singer Paul Young

Deaths

25 November: Ecologist Sir Arthur Tansley

Meanwhile…

2 December: The Barnes rail crash in Barnes, South London, left 13 dead and 35 injured.

7 December: Long-running Labour leader Clement Attlee resigned. For all the positive changes he helped bring about after the war, it was time for him to pass on the torch if the party was to usurp new Tory Prime Minister Anthony Eden. One week later, Hugh Gaitskell, a right-wing politician by many Labour members’ standards, defeated Nye Bevan and was named as the new leader.

19. Johnnie Ray – Such a Night (1954)

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The Intro

‘Poor old Johnnie Ray sounded sad upon the radio
He moved a million hearts in mono.’

Immortalised in the video and opening line of Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners,  it’s a shame that it seems to be what US singer and songwriter Johnnie Ray is best known for these days.

As great a song as it is, he deserves better. In many ways the prototype eccentric rock’n’roll star, he was troubled, overtly sexual and most of all, different. He wasn’t a cardigan crooner or your typical teen idol, but for a time he was just as popular. Ray was a big influence on Elvis Presley, who later covered this song, and Morrissey wore a hearing aid in the early years of The Smiths in tribute.

Before

Born 10 January 1927, John Alvin Ray was raised in Dallas, Oregon. The Rays lived briefly on a farm, and at the age of three, he began playing piano. At 12, he was singing in the church choir.

Aged 13 and living in Portland, Oregon, Ray became deaf in his left ear following an accident at the Boy Scouts, which is why he was known for wearing a hearing aid in concert. He also later explained the incident had a profound impact on his unique performance style.

Ray was one of the first, if not the first star to show you could turn your weaknesses into your greatest strengths. He was influenced by, among others, Kay Starr, whose jazzy, rhythmic singing on previous number 1, Comes A-Long A-Love was one of the earliest signals of rock’n’roll to make the charts.

At 15 Ray was singing on a local radio station, and performing in comedy and theatre shows. Later, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, and gained a cult following for his live performances. He signed his first record deal in 1951.

In 1952 Ray became famous for the first of several appearances on US TV’s Toast of the Town (which became The Ed Sullivan Show three years later). Soon after the double-A side Cry/The Little White Cloud That Cried made him a teen idol. On 30 April, his cover of Such a Night became his first UK number 1.

Review

Such a Night had originally been a hit for soul group The Drifters. It was songwriter Lincoln Chase’s first big hit, and caused some controversy by being a bit too racy. Ray had no qualms about not only covering it, but making it sound positively filthy by the usual standards of the day. The lyrics and rhymes are very basic, but it’s all about the delivery with this song, produced by hitmaker Mitch Miller. Ray doesn’t hold back, he grunts and groans, and makes it clear he’s not just talking about kissing his girl.

The Outro

Sex had made its way to the top of the charts (the nudge-nudge wink-wink of Guy Mitchell’s Look at That Girl barely compares) for the first time, and already the likes of Frankie Laine started to look old-fashioned by comparison. Ray would do better, but rock’n’roll doesn’t seem so far away anymore.

The Info

Written by

Lincoln Chase

Producer

Mitch Miller

Weeks at number 1

1 (30 April-6 May)

Trivia

Deaths

6 May: Journalist JC Forbes

Meanwhile…

6 May: Athlete Roger Bannister made history, becoming the first person to break the four-minute mile.