Max Picks …songs from 1959

1959

By this time Rock and Roll was not in a good state. Buddy Holly died in February, Jerry Lee Lewis had married his 13-year-old cousin earlier and got the canceled treatment years before it was a phrase, later in this year Chuck Berry would be arrested for the Mann Act, Little Richard was dedicated to the church, and Elvis was in the army in Germany. So you had artists like Anita Bryant, Pat Boone, Fabian, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, and more that I won’t post on the charts. All wasn’t lost though. You did have some great artists left. The one and only Ray Charles is a great place to start in 1959. This is my favorite Ray Charles song…What’d I Say…damn this song is good. It was written by the man himself…Ray Charles.

This is one of if not my favorite instrumentals of all time. Santo and Johnny released this great song called Sleep Walk. Santo Anthony Farina and John Steven Farina were brothers who grew up in Brooklyn. They played a guitar and a steel guitar which was not in many rock/pop bands. I remember this song best from the movie La Bamba in a very emotional scene. Sometimes music can make movies in certain scenes like La Bamba or Goodfellas. The song was written by Santo Farina, Johnny Farina, and Ann Farina.

I first learned about Jackie Wilson through a Van Morrison song titled…Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile). After hearing that song I looked for his music and what an artist! I found many artists by reading about others. Reading about the Beatles took me to Bob Dylan and the tree grew from there. This song was written by Berry Gordy, Roquel “Billy” Davis, and Gwendolyn Gordy.

Fats Domino was one of the old guards still pumping out the hits. This one is called I Want To Walk You Home. Fats wasn’t as flashy as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, or Little Richard but the man could play and sing like no one else. He was steady through the 50s and he did have some success in the 1960s. This song was written by Fats Domino.

I’m cheating a little on this song. It was recorded on December 16, 1958, and was released (and that is what I go by) at the end of December but it’s so close that I’m counting it. It charted in January of 1959 and because of the circumstances, I am posting his great double-A-sided single. At the time of the release… the song Donna was the A-side and La Bamba was the B-side. Ritchie Valens seemed to have a bright future in front of him but was taken from us in the plane crash that took Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. Donna was written by Ritchie Valens. He wrote the song about Donna Ludwig who was his high school sweetheart. La Bamba was an old Mexican folk song arranged by Ritchie Valens.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

48 thoughts on “Max Picks …songs from 1959”

  2. La Bamba must be one of the most mis-sung songs of all time, non-Spanish speakers often/always singing “la la la la la la Bamba”, when in fact it should be “para bailar la Bamba” (to dance the goat).

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    1. You know, there’s a whole field of mis-heard lyrics (referred to as “mondegreens” from a classic). Another from Spanish (courtesy of my brother-in-law who mis-heard the 1966 Sandpipers hit) is “Guantanamera”, which he heard as “one ton tomato”. I have never heard “bamba” translated as “goat” (“cabra”).

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  3. Great choices! “Sleepwalk” is one of those songs that everyone recognizes, but many don’t know why. You couldn’t leave Jackie Wilson off this list. Since you didn’t have Fats singing “Blueberry Hill” on your 1956 list, it’s only fair you included him here. Some other greats from that year (my memories are directly tied to the records my older sibs owned and I listened to a lot): “Stagger Lee” by Lloyd Price, “Manhattan Spiritual” by Reg Owen (another example of the wide range of stuff that charted in those days), “Poison Ivy” by The Coasters (a Leiber/Stoller tune), “Sea Cruise” by Frankie Ford (written by “Piano” Smith), “Sea of Love” by Phil Phillips (later a great film with Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, and John Goodman), “Three Stars” by Tommy Dee and Carol Kay (not a great song, but a tribute to Valens, Holly, and The Big Bopper), and the usual variety of novelty songs.

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    2. Thanks! Yea it’s so many that I had to turn away…Ricky Nelson is another I had to leave off of some because of others but I got him on my last weeks…in 1963 it starts getting a little harder and 1964 it just explodes.

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  6. Good choices! Like Half Fast said, ‘Sleepwalk’ is one we all recognize when we hear it but many of us (like me) would have trouble remembering what it’s called. Outstanding piece of music though and it was cool seeing it played – what was that, an autoharp? I’m similar to you with Jackie Wilson… except for me , I heard Dexy’s Midnight Runners do ‘Jackie Wilson Said’ first, and eventually got curious as to who Jackie was.

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    2. It was a steel guitar I believe…their father got it for them to be different. I’ve played an autoharp…it sits in your lap…Im not sure how to describe it….well me saying “playing” is a bit too much…I played around with it.
      I forgot they covered that song.

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  7. Once again some excellent choices Max. You point out some very important events that year. For rock and roll it’s certainly slim pickings on the charts as you point out 60-62 has some real sleepers topping the charts!

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    1. I always thought those years were weak…but after seeing them…yea they were bad. 1962 was the hardest one I had to pick from.

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  9. That Fats song has a great sway to it- one I’d forgotten. ”Sleep Walk’ is one I heard in- I think- ‘American Graffiti?- and I thought that was unbeatable, but I a heard a later version sung by Renee Olstead that is mesmerising.

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      2. No it’s not just you….she really does. Very cool to hear lyrics with that song. I’ve read where they did write some but never used them. Thanks for that obbverse.

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  10. While some great artists like Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry due to different circumstances were out of the picture, you still found some great tunes. Ray Charles is probably my favorite, though I also like your other picks. The instrumental based on the artists and the title didn’t ring a bell, but once I started listening to the clip, I recognize it – really cool sound! Jackie Wilson was a remarkably versatile artist, which only occurred to me recently.

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    1. Yea I had to turn artists away making it and the following year…then it gets hard to pick 5 in 1962! In 63 it gets better and then 1964 it explodes! Hmmmm wonder why?

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    1. 1962 was by far the hardest year to fill…it took me a while to find anything…it was that bad.
      1963 it started to look up and 1964…it explodes…thank you England!

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      2. Ok…thank you Britain! I was going to say UK but you would have thought I meant you…well…I do thank you also for reading! lol

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      3. Haha sorry! We just get a bit annoyed at being lumped in with England all the time… The worst one is (usually Americans, sorry!) talking about the ‘King of England’. There’s no such person!

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  15. Sleepwalk is brilliant, love it. Ray Charles is a classic, and the Ritchie Valens tracks still great. Only one 1959 track has ever topped my own personal charts (as a reissue when it was a UK hit again in 1972) Oh Carol, Neil Sedaka’s breakthrough, and I’d also opt for It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, Buddy’s best maybe along with Raining In My Heart. Oh, and teen pop wasnt all bad, I love Venus, Frankie Avalon’s top tune 🙂

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  16. There were some songs I liked from 1959. I am not to be trusted on this, so I googled hits of 1959. Some of my favorites include Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin (admittedly, not rock and roll), Kansas City by Wilbur Harrison, and especially Charlie Brown by the Coasters. Admittedly, slim pickings but since my older brother turned the radio to KHJ in 1963, it was all oldies to me. Not at all rock and roll, but still one of my favorites from the year has to be The Battle of Kookamunga in 1959.

    Hey, Max. You ever heard Homer and Jethro? Bit of trivia, June Carter (as in Mrs. Johnny Cash) recorded a few songs with them in 1949 and 1950. Source: https://www.rocky-52.net/chanteursh/homer&jethro.htm

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