Rock 'N' Roll Artists: 50s - 1962

WILLIAM JOHN CLIFTON "BILL" HALEY 1925 - /

Birth: Highland Park, Michigan.
1938: First performance as a child at variety shows.
Shy about his looks because blind in one eye.
In his teens: Played amusement parks.
Signed with "Cousin Lee's Band," singing, yodeling, playing guitar.
Joined "The Downhomers" singing and yodeling.
Age 22: Hosted a local radio show.
Married Dorothy Crowe.
1948: Formed "The Four Aces of Western Swing." released some records.
1949: Disbanded group and formed "The Saddleman," who were to become "The Comets."
1951: "Bill Haley and the Comets" records "Rocket 88" which was originally recorded by "Jackie Brenston and his Deltacats.
1952: Records "Rock the Joint."
1953: added sax player; recorded "Crazy Man, Crazy."
Divorces, marries Barbara Joan Cupchack.
1954: April 12, records "Rock Around The Clock." It's a minor hit. Twelve months later, after "Shake Rattle and Roll" has sold a million copies for him, "Clock" appears in "Blackboard Jungle" and quickly sells over 25 million copies.


The biography I took this from is incomplete, but, we all pretty much know his career was long.

I remember "Crazy, Man, Crazy" but I was so young then that the name of the artist didn't register. In the early days rock wasn't so much associated with 'pop' as with jazz. The same stations that played Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerals also played Joe Turner and Bill Haley. They weren't likely to play Frank Sinatra, who was not, at the time, considered a jazz singer. Frank began to be identified with jazz after his appearance in High Society with Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby.

This was, in part, a racial bias as early rock was evolving from rhythm & blues which, itself, had been called 'race music' until the late 1940s. Those stations which placed jazz and early rock wouldn't play Sinatra but had no compunction about playing the equally smooth and comfortable Nat "King" Cole.

If today we no longer think of Rock as being a mostly black-inspired music, that is due strictly to the British invasion, starting with the Beatles and the Stones. The Mersey beat goes on.

I heard Rock Around the Clock and See Ya Later Alligator and possibly Shake Rattle and Roll before I recognized there was a rock sound. To me, these were novelty tunes and nothing more. I was insulated from knowledge by the fact that my mother kept the radio on a country station all day long. Sad to say, my first awakening came when I heard Kay Star sing Rock and Roll Waltz. That same week, my oldest brother came home excited and asked to put the radio to Lucky Lager Dance Time. From that moment my mother, brother and I became rock fans.

CLYDE MCPHATTER 1932 - 1972

Birth: Durham, N. C.
Age 14: Sang with gospel group.
1950: Met Billy Ward and joined "The Dominoes."
1951: "THe Dominoes" record "60 Minute Man."
"The Dominoes" record "Have Mercy, Baby."
1953: Left the group, replaced by Jackie Wilson.
Formed "The Drifters," signied with Atlantic Records.
1953: Money Honey
Such a Night; Lucille; Honey Love; White Christmas.
1955: Drafted, and so left the group.
1956: On leave, recorded first solo: "Seven Days."
1958: A Lover's Question.
1962: Met Ray Stevens during the recording of "Ahab the Arab;" Ray named the camel in the song Clyde in McPhatter's honor.
1962: Lover Please.
Last top 40 in 1962.
Death: Heart attack.
1987: Inducted into Hall of Fame.
1988: Drifters inducted into Hall of Fame.

Leiber and Stoller

The Leiber and Stoller story began when both were born the same year, 1933. Creatively speaking, the actual songwriting partnership commenced when both were 17, in 1950, when they discovered a mutual love for boogie- woogie and the blues. By the time they were 20, in just three years of working together, their early songs had been recorded by a collection of true all-stars in the rhythm and blues genre including Jimmy Witherspoon, Little Esther, Amos Milburn, Charles Brown, Little Willie Littlefield, Bull Moose Jackson, Linda Hopkins, Ray Charles and Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton who actually first recorded "Hound Dog" in 1952. Atlantic Records executives, Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler among them, were impressed, and in 1955 signed Leiber and Stoller to the first independent production deal, forever changing the course of production in the record industry.

For the next decade, well into the late '60s the hits of Leiber and Stoller were constantly at the top of the charts, including the memorable "Stand By Me," "Spanish Harlem" and "I (Who Have Nothing)," by Ben E. King; "On Broadway," "Dance With Me" and "Drip Drop" by The Drifters; LaVern Baker's "Saved" and Ruth Brown's "Lucky Lips."

During this same productive period, there were other Leiber and Stoller smashes, including "Love Potion #9," by The Clovers, "Only In America" by Jay and The Americans, "I Keep Forgettin," by Chuck Jackson, Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," The Drifters' "There Goes My Baby" and "Fools Fall In Love," "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" by The Cheers and "Ruby Baby" by Dion DiMucci.

Following the triumph of "Hound Dog," Elvis Presley actually went on to record more than 20 Leiber and Stoller songs, including such highlights as "Loving You," "Bossa Nova Baby," "She's Not You" and "Santa Claus Is Back In Town."

The true diversity of the pairs of talent came into full bloom with the genre-bending song "Is That All There Is," recorded by (Miss) Peggy Lee in 1969, which prompted music critic Bob Palmer's comment, "the golden age of rock and roll has come to an end."

Leiber and Stoller have also shared many major accolades and awards. They were inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1985, the Record Producers' Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In early 1988, the Presley recording of "Hound Dog" was placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame. And in 1991, the pair were presented with the prestigious ASCAP Founders' Award.

Thank you, Brandon.

You're welcome. I thought they ought to be included.

Oh, yeah; Lieber and Stoller were to be included. Nice to get some help. Brandon. Those two guys were at least as influential as Elvis in many ways.

You're right.

LLOYD PRICE 1933 -

Rythm and blues singer of the 50s and 60s; also musician, bandleader, songwriter, producer, record company executive, booking agent.
His earliest hit and perhaps biggest song, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," featured Fats Domino on piano. It was based on a commercial jingle he wrote. Topped r&b charts in 1952. Was covered by Elvis Presley, the Buckinghams, John Lennon and Elvis Costello.
Drafted into Korean War. Three years later he came home and the Kent Record Company (KRC). He leased that company's recordings to ABC-Paramount, and so was able to keep creative control while achieving national distribution.
His version of "Stack-o-Lee" was called "Stagger Lee." The lyrics were edited by Dick Clark to make them more palatable to the record buying public.
Timeline:
1933: Birth: Kenner, Louisiana.
1952: Cuts "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" for Specialty Records.
1953 - 1956: Serves in US Army. Prior to being drafted he had a string of five hits, including "Oooh, Oooh, Oooh" "Restless Heart" "Tell Me Pretty Baby" and "Ain't It a Shame."
1957: Records "Just Because" peaking at #3 R&B and #29 pop.
1959: "Stagger Lee" tops R&B charts four weeks.
1959: "Where Were You on Our Wedding Day" "Personality" "I'm Gonna Get Married" and "Come Into My Heart."
1960: "Lady Luck" and "Question."
1963: Records Errol Garner's "Misty."
1969: Starts a night club and a record company.
1974: Stages music festival in Zaire, with boxing promoter, Don King. The event attracts 120,000 people and features James Brown, B. B. King, Etta James, Bill Withers, Spinners and others.
1994: Pioneer Award at 6th annual Rythm and Blues Foundation ceremonies in Los Angeles.
1998: Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

ANTOINE "FATS" DOMINO - 1928 -

Birth: New Orleans.
First language: French.
First public performance: age 10.
1940s: joined Dave Bartholomew's Band. Bartholomew co-authored many of Fats' hit songs.
1949: signed with Imperial Records. First recording: The Fat Man, a song about drugs, with the words cleaned up.
1952: released Goin' Home.
1955: released Ain't That a Shame. (Pat Boone also recorded it. Boone made #1, Fats made #10. The song established both as stars).
Fats appears on piano on records by Joe Turner and Lloyd Price.
1956: I'm In Love Again and Blueberry Hill. At #2 Blueberry Hill charted highest of all Fats' records.
1957: Appeared in the film: The Girl Can't Help It, singing Blue Monday.
1960: final top ten song: Walkin' to New Orleans.
1963: Final top forty song: Red Sails in the Sunset.
Other films: Shake Rattle and Roll, The Big Beat, Jamboree.
Vegas: Appeared there frequently.
Today: Lives in New Orleans with wife Rosemary, mother of his 8 children.
Received: Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award.
1986: Into Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame.

Very interesting. Thank you!

THE DRIFTERS

1953: The original group was distinct and different than the rest that followed. Clyde McPhatter was the original lead, with hits, Money Honey, Honey Love. What 'Cha Gonna Do (which Hank Ballard rewrote into The Twist) and White Christmas. Johnny Moore took the lead for Ruby Baby.
1958: Benjamin Earl "Ben E. King" Nelson, b. 1938, first led the next group. There Goes My Baby, This Magic Moment, Save the Last Dance For Me.
1961: Rudy Lewis became lead. Up On the Roof, On Broadway.
1964: Rudy Lewis died of a heart attack. The same Johnny Moore who led the original Drifters on Ruby Baby became lead. Under the Boardwalk.
So many personell changes allowed for numbers of groups billed as the Drifters to be formed. One of these groups had some UK hits in the 70s.
1988: It was the 60s Drifters inducted into the Hall of Fame.

RICHARD WAYNE PENNIMAN - "Little Richard"

Born and raised: Macon GA, #3 of 12 children.
First sang: local church choir.
First signed: with RCA Records in 1951 - released two singles that went un-noticed.
While washing dishes in a Greyhound bus station he sent a demo to Specialty Records, a new label from Los Angeles. His first hit was Tutti Frutti. He recorded Long Tall Sally, Rip it Up, Lucille, Jenny jenny, Keep a Knockin, Good Golly Miss Molly. By 1968 he had sold over 32 million records. He had appeared in some movies, including The Girl Can't Help It.
He retired from his career in the late 50s, but eventually returned.
1985: appeared in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, in which he introduced the single: Great Gosh Amighty.
1987: inducted into the Hall of Fame.
1993: Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Little Richard continues to be active. He is fond of claiming to be the original true architect of Rock 'N' Roll, a bit of an exaggeration, but, those of us who recall him from the early days do consider him a true icon.

Do Wop is a complicated topic. In the first place, I find it hard calling Neil Sedaka and quite a few other people do wop artists, when they had the kinds of bands they had. The Diamonds, Del Vikings, Belmonts, Silhouetes and the like are to me so much different. But, the experts disagree, so, I leave it with you to form your own opinions.

According to The Doo-Wop Society, probably the first time doo-wop appeared on a record, the year was 1954, on a song called "Never" by Carlyle Dundee and the Dundees. (Members of The Dundees became The Calvanes).
The first time a song with doo-wop on the record became a genuine hit was 1955: The Turbans, singing "When You Dance."
In 1953 Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters used doo-wop on "Let the Boogie Woogie Roll" but the song was not released until 1960.
1958: The De Villes recorded "Kiss Me Again and Again" and the flip side was called "DO-Wop."
Doo-Wop singers may have taken a cue from the Dizzy Gillespie's 1947 be-bop song "Oop Boop Sh'Bam."
Doo-Wop is still popular in many ways. Boys II Men recently recorded "In The Still of the Night."
There were dozens, probably hundreds of Doo-Wop groups. I could never list them all. I encourage anyone interested to tell us who are thier favorite Doo-Wop artists.

I think The Platters qualify, e.g. "The Great Pretender," "Twilight Time," etc.

I wish that new artists would try recording in the style of this era, that is classical rock'n roll. There's nothing really stopping anyone, but I doubt it will happen. I believe that a group called The Stray Cats tried it, but unfortunately weren't very good, and then one of them, Brian Seltzer, tried again with more or less the same results. I don't think that they failed because no one would ever listen to the genre, but rather because their work wasn't good enough to generate much excitement. I'd still like to see new songs produced in the classical rock'n roll style.

I too would like to se that. To me, the biggest problem to that is, their art is corrupted - too harsh a word - overly influenced by today's sound, which keeps them from being true to the original music.

I thought Stray Cats and Brian Seltzer were very fine in their rock n roll style and I think the reason it didn't work so well is absolutely because no one was interested in the genre except us old fogies. Between punk, rap, new jack swing and a resurgence of reggae and ska in the mid-80's, there just wasn't any room for 50's rock n roll, complete with the pompadours and two-toned shoes they were giving us.

eoe
I am not familiar with their work.

I'm not sure how relevant this is, because it's only a subculture of unknown size (unknown to me, anyway), but I have spoken to many young people, as young as 16 or so, who think that current popular music is worthless and listen only to rock from the 50s through the 70s. I have met many people under 20 who are virtually living in the 50s and 60s - visiting Graceland, etc.