1950s – Page 24 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Elvis Presley – Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

Jim…https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/64726988 asked me to contribute a song to a song lyric Sunday. This weekend I had some time so I told Jim I would be happy to contribute a song. The theme is Wedding/Marry/Diamond/Ring/Cake so I thought of this Elvis song.

The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 in 1958. The song was written by Bert Carroll and Russell Moody and released April. 1, 1958. This was at the period where everything Elvis touched turned to gold. I remember going to my cousin’s home and listening to an Elvis compilation of his 50s songs in the mid-70s when I was around 8-9. This song and All Shook Up, Hound Dog, Don’t Be Cruel and many more.

Elvis recorded this song on February 1, 1958, at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California. The musicians were Guitar: Scotty Moore, Tiny Timbrell, Elvis Presley. Bass: Bill Black. Drums: D.J. Fontana. Piano: Dudley Brooks. Vocals: The Jordanaires.

In this song, Presley wants his girlfriend to wear his ring around her neck. Of course, the ring would be on a chain…as was the custom in the 1950s to signify they are going steady. Hope you enjoyed the song and have a great Sunday.

Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

Won’t you wear my ring around your neck
To tell the world I’m yours, by heck
Let them see your love for me
And let them see by the ring around your neck

Won’t you wear my ring around your neck
To tell the world I’m yours, by heck
Let them know I love you so
And let them no by the ring around your neck

They say that goin’ steady is not the proper thing
They say that we’re too young to know the meaning of a ring
I only know that I love you and that you love me too
So, darling, please do what I ask of you

Won’t you wear my ring around your neck
To tell the world I’m yours, by heck
Let them see your love for me
And let them see by the ring around your neck

Let them know I love you so
And let them know by the ring around your neck

Buddy Holly – Oh, Boy!

This was recorded June 29-July 1, 1957 at Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico. Oh Boy was written by Sunny West, Bill Tilghman, and Norman Petty. Norman was Holly’s producer and owned the studio where this was recorded.

This song played live is very powerful along with Buddy’s other songs. In the 90s I saw a musical play called Buddy that was touring the country. In the musical, there was just “Buddy”, a bass player and a drummer and the songs exploded off the stage. Buddy arranged these songs to sound so big with just a few instruments.

This rocker is a simple song but there is so much going on in the background. From the Crickets backups to the pounding drums of Jerry Allison. Buddy’s Strat comes through clear as he plays against the drums.

The song peaked at #19 in the US Hot 100 and #3 in the UK. This song was paired with the “b” side Not Fade Away…which later became very popular when the Rolling Stones covered it in 1964.

From Songfacts

Background vocals were added later by The Picks (Bill & John Pickering, Bob Lapham).

This was released as a single with “Not Fade Away” as the B-side. While this song did fade away, the B-side has become one of Holly’s well-known songs. It got a boost when it was covered by The Rolling Stones in 1964.

This was credited to The Crickets, who were Holly’s band.

Holly and The Crickets performed this on their second and final Ed Sullivan Show appearance on January 26, 1958. Sullivan was not happy with the song selection, as he considered it too raunchy, but Holly insisted on performing it. Possibly in retaliation, Sullivan introduced him as “Buddy Hollet,” and Holly can be seen trying to turn up his guitar, which had been set too low. While most musical guests were given 2 songs, Holly got just the one.

Buick spun this into the jingle “Oh, Buick!” for a 1987 commercial.

Oh Boy

All of my love
All of my kissin’
You don’t know what you’ve been a-missin’
Oh boy, when you’re with me
Oh boy, the world can see
That you, were meant, for me

All of my life
I’ve been a-waitin’
Tonight there’ll be no, hesitatin’
Oh boy, when you’re with me
Oh boy, the world can see
That you, were meant, for me

Stars appear and shadows a-falling
You can hear my heart a-calling
A little bit a-lovin’ makes everything right
And I’m gonna see my baby tonight

All of my love
All of my kissin’
You don’t know what you’ve been a-missin’
Oh boy, when you’re with me
Oh boy, the world can see
That you, were meant, for me

All of my life
I’ve been a-waitin’
Tonight there’ll be no, hesitatin’
Oh boy, when you’re with me
Oh boy, the world can see
That you, were meant, for me

Stars appear and shadows a-falling
You can hear my heart a-calling
A little bit a-lovin’ makes everything right
I’m gonna see my baby tonight

All of my love
All of my kissin’
You don’t know what you’ve been a-missin’
Oh boy, when you’re with me
Oh boy, the world can see
That you, were meant, for me

Buddy Holly and The Crickets – Maybe Baby

Maybe Baby” was was written by Buddy Holly and the producer Norman Petty and recorded by Holly and the Crickets in 1957. The song peaked at #17 in the US Charts, #4 in the UK, and #8 in Canada in 1958.

In 1957 they recorded this song in the Officers Club at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. The Crickets were scheduled to perform at the Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium on Sept. 29 as one of the acts with the Show of Stars ’57.

I’ve always looked at Buddy Holly as one of the founding members of power pop.

From Songfacts

This was recorded Sept, 1957 at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Background vocals were added later at Petty Studios in Clovis, NM.

Charles Hardin and Norman Petty wrote this. Hardin is Buddy Holly (real name Charles Hardin Holley) and Petty was his producer and manager. Holly’s first 2 singles flopped, but he had a string of hits after he started working with Petty.

This was credited to The Crickets, who were Holly’s band. Holly had a deal with Decca Records where some songs were released under his name and others credited to the band.

Decca is a name the company made up. It was chosen because it was easy to say and pronounced the same way in any language.

The album The Buddy Holly Story is a compilation of his songs that was released a few weeks after he died in a plane crash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdIPgtLthX8

Maybe Baby

Maybe baby, I’ll have you
Maybe baby, you’ll be true
Maybe baby, I’ll have you for me (all for me)

It’s funny honey, you don’t care
You never listen, to my prayer
Maybe baby, you will love me some day (someday)

Well, you are the one that makes me glad
And you are the one that makes me sad
When some day, you’ll want me
Well, I’ll be there, wait and see

Maybe baby, I’ll have you
Maybe baby, you’ll be true
Maybe baby, I’ll have you for me (all for me)

Da-da-ta-da-da-da da-da-da
Da-da-ta-da-da-da da-da-da
Da-da-ta-da-da-da da-da-da
Ahh-ahh-ahh

Well, you are the one that makes me glad
And you are the one that makes me sad
When some day, you’ll want me
Well, I’ll be there, wait and see

Maybe baby, I’ll have you
Maybe baby, you’ll be true
Maybe baby, I’ll have you for me (all for me)

Maybe baby I’ll have you for me (you’re for me)

The Eddie Haskell’s of the World

June 7th was Ken Osmond’s birthday and he turned 76 years old. It’s hard to believe Eddie Haskell is that old when he is frozen in time in the never-ending reruns of Leave It To Beaver. There were rumors that Osmond was Alice Cooper. Another rumor was that Ken was Porno Star, John Holmes.

In reality, Ken Osmond joined the LAPD in 1970 and later Osmond retired from the police department in 1988, eight years after being shot by a suspected car thief. Two bullets reportedly hit his bulletproof vest and he was protected from the third bullet by his belt buckle.

Eddie Haskell was one of the great characters of television. Not likable… pretty much the opposite but he was very familiar because we probably all know our own Eddie Haskell.

Eddie was always so nice to adults…Really too nice. The Ward Cleaver character once said…”The boy is unamerican…he is just too nice.” and always tormenting his friends and kids. Eddie was the ultimate two face… all smiles and yeses to authority, but quite the trouble-maker with his peers.

We all probably had an Eddie Haskell in our friendship circles. A guy who was always trying to grow up faster than anyone else. Someone who would give you advice and then criticize you when you took the advice and things went sideways. You stay friends with them because occasionally they will do something decent and you will think… he turned a corner… only to be fooled yet again.

Sometimes I guess we need an Eddie Haskell to blame our troubles on.

My 5 Favorite Baseball Announcers of All Time

This list will be different for every baseball fan. Many times it’s your team’s announcer and other times it’s a network announcer you grew up with. I tend to like announcers who are not complete homers although some I like… like Harry Caray. He made it fun even though he openly rooted for the Cubs…and Budweiser.

There are many more that could be on this list.

5: Harry Caray – He injected fun into the game. It was like a fan announcing the game. He wasn’t technically the best baseball announcer but he was enjoyable.

4: Mel Allen – I remember Mel when I was a kid on “This Week in Baseball.” That voice was a part of my childhood.

3: Bob Uecker – “Just a bit outside” the more I listen to him the more I appreciate him.

2: Jack Buck – NOT Joe… You could hear his excitement for the game in his voice. For me, the best is between Jack and…

1: Vin Scully – Being a Dodgers fan I was spoiled by Vin Scully… my number 1 favorite. If you tuned into a Dodger game you would not know who employed Mr. Scully. He would not root for the Dodgers and he knew when not to say anything and let the action speak for itself.

Vin

Jack

Danny & the Juniors – At The Hop

Poodle skirts and pink Cadillacs is what I think of when I hear this song.

In the ’50s, high school dances in America were often referred to as “the hop.” Sometimes, these dances would be “sock hops” because school administrators would make the kids take off their shoes so they didn’t scuff up the floor of the gymnasium, where the dance was usually held.

This song stayed on the top of US charts for seven weeks in 1958, longer than any other song that year. For four of those weeks, it held “Great Balls of Fire” off the top spot…

From Songfacts

This was written by Dave White and John Madara, who were songwriter/producers based in Philadelphia – White was a member of Danny and the Juniors. Madara explained in an interview with Forgotten Hits: “‘At The Hop’ originally was recorded by myself, with Danny and The Juniors (who at the time were called The Juvenairs) singing background. It was titled ‘Do The Bop,’ with the B Side, ‘Sometimes,’ also with me singing lead and Danny and The Juniors singing background. I was under contract at the time to Prep Records and had just had a record, ‘Be My Girl,’ which had made the national charts.

Prep had me all set up to record again with a producer who was working with Paul Anka, Sid Feller, when I had the idea to write a song ‘Do The Bop.’ I wanted to do something that had a piano featured like ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.’ So, off we go to the recording studio, with me singing lead, Danny and The Juniors singing background, and my 45 record ‘A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ to set the tone of what I was shooting for. I paid for the session, sat in the control room, told the engineer what to do, played the Jerry Lee Lewis record for the musicians and that is how ‘Do The Bop’ was created. After the recording, we played the record for Prep.

They didn’t care for it. They still wanted me to record with Sid Feller. So we went back to Philadelphia where ‘Do The Bop’ was played for Dick Clark, who suggested that The Bop wasn’t really happening around the country and why don’t we change it to something about record hops. So with some additional lyric changes, and because I was under contract with Prep, we went back into the studio with Danny and The Juniors. Danny, who was their lead singer, sang lead, using a lot of the same phrasing that I did on ‘Do The Bop.’ Of course, the rest is rock and roll history.”

Danny & the Juniors were the Philadelphia group of Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova. At the time, they were known as The Juvenairs. They were on a street corner singing when a someone who worked at a recording studio heard them and brought them in to sing. The “Bah”‘s go in this order of singers:

Bah 1, Terranova (also does the Oh, Baby)

Bah 2, Rapp (Lead Singer and choreographer. He committed suicide in 1983 in a Holiday Inn in Arizona with a shotgun, he owned a black 1958 Impala Convertible with a continental kit)

Bah 3, Maffei (First Tenor)

Bah 4, White (Second Tenor)

Danny and the Juniors hit the US Top 40 three more times, including “Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay,” but this was their only hit in England.

This was used in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which is set in 1962 and features lots of music from early in the Rock Era.

Artie Singer also has a composer credit on this song. In the Forgotten Hits interview, Madara said: “Artie Singer, who had been my vocal coach, took all of the credit for the production (and production monies and all of the publishing), put his name on as a songwriter and publisher and has tried to take credit for producing ‘At The Hop’ all these years. I have read on many websites that Artie Singer went out and got Leon Huff to help with the production and play piano. This is totally, one hundred percent false. I discovered Leon Huff in 1963 playing with a band called ‘The Lavenders,’ and at that time he was about 18 years old. He would have had to have been 12 years old to be involved with ‘At The Hop.'”

Sha-Na-Na played this at Woodstock in 1969. They were relatively unknown at the time and performed covers of ’50s hits and doo-wop songs. Their Woodstock performance, which preceded Jimi Hendrix, helped launch their career, which led to their own TV show in 1977.

At The Hop

Bah-bah-bah-bah, bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah, bah-bah-bah-bah, at the hop!

Well, you can rock it you can roll it
You can stop and you can stroll it at the hop
When the record starts spinnin’
You chalypso when you chicken at the hop
Do the dance sensation that is sweepin’ the nation at the hop

Ah, let’s go to the hop
Let’s go to the hop, (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop, (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop
Come on, let’s go to the hop

Well, you can swing it you can groove it
You can really start to move it at the hop
Where the jockey is the smoothest
And the music is the coolest at the hop
All the cats and chicks can get their kicks at the hop
Let’s go!

Let’s go to the hop
Let’s go to the hop, (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop, (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop
Come on, let’s go to the hop
Let’s go!

You can swing it you can groove it
You can really start to move it at the hop
Where the jockey is the smoothest
And the music is the coolest at the hop.
All the cats and chicks can get their kicks at the hop.
Let’s go!

Let’s go to the hop
Let’s go to the hop, (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop, (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop
Come on, let’s go to the hop

Bah-bah-bah-bah, bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah, bah-bah-bah-bah, at the hop!

The Searcher… Elvis Presley

Whenever I start reading about someone (In this case Elvis Presley) I usually dive deep into them. I’ve watched a few documentaries on youtube and the Comeback Special.

Last week Slightly Charming (I highly recommend checking out her blog) recommended this documentary on Elvis and it is the best one I’ve watched about him. It’s an HBO production with commentary by Priscilla Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Robbie Robertson, and many others.

It is a two-part documentary around 3 hours long both combined. Much like the Peter Guralnick books I’ve been reading it is very even-handed but it doesn’t pull any punches.

Elvis was an interesting person. A poor southern boy who gained fame and fortune quickly and handled it well considering what he was going through until his mother passed away. After that came the Army stint in Germany and from there while his fortune and fame grew his artistic credibility went down. In the mid-sixties, while The Beatles, Dylan, and the Stones dominated the charts…Elvis, a big influence to all three was stuck in a cycle of bad movies and bad soundtracks that he didn’t want to do.

The documentary goes over Colonel Tom Parker his manager, The infamous Memphis Mafia, Las Vegas, and the failed marriage to Priscilla.

The one thing this film does is concentrate on his music and not the parody he turned into at the end of his life. I found myself rooting for him during the 1968 Comeback Special. He had the spark back again and his voice was the Elvis we heard in the fifties. After the dismal movie soundtracks, he made this great comeback special but then it slowly started to go down. There was still good music to come but the end was in sight.

This great documentary is worth the time to check out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YokSyhPTjAY

Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock

I’ve been reading a biography of Elvis and I recently have been watching a documentary about him. My son told me Saturday he was operating the lights for a play in his High School and wanted me to go. Saturday night I go and the play is a musical called…All Shook Up…set in the fifties using Elvis songs. Everywhere I turn there is Elvis.

No telling how many times I’ve heard this song but I really paid attention to it for the first time. Yes, Elvis had a great voice we know that but this voice is untamed and wild. It has a scratchy, driving, and go for your throat voice that he seemed to lose as he got older (well he did find it on the 68 comeback special) and tried to please too many people. This is rock and roll at it’s purest form…

The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957 at the time but now it’s not counted as a number 1. I could not understand why it was listed as a #1 record and on the Billboard site, it does not list it as such.

I found this about the change

Billboards latest ruling is based on the fact that the Billboard Hot 100 Chart was first launched on August 4th 1958 and so number one hits counted by other means on differently named charts prior to this date [But still ‘the Billboard chart of the day’] should not be counted.

From Songfacts

This was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also wrote “Hound Dog,” which became a huge hit when Elvis recorded it. Leiber and Stoller excelled at writing catchy pop songs with elements of blues music. Their songs could be very funny and clever, and often take place in unusual situations. Some of their other hits include “Love Potion #9” and “On Broadway.” Mike Stoller played piano on this track.

This was featured in the Elvis movie of the same name, where Elvis plays a wrongly accused convict who becomes a star when he gets out. The film, which is considered one of the best of his 31 movies, is famous for the scene where Elvis performs this song in an elaborate dance number taking place in prison.

The movie score was the first one that Leiber and Stoller wrote. Stoller recalled to Mojo magazine April 2009: “We flew in to New York from LA, where were living at that time, and we had a hotel suite. We had a piano put in, in case the muse struck us, and Jean Aberbach – he and his brother (Julian) owned Hill & Range Songs and they had to deal with Colonel Parker but created Gladys Music and Elvis Presley Music-handed us a script for a movie. We threw it in the corner with the tourist magazines that you get in hotels. We were having a ball in New York, going to the theatre, going to jazz clubs to hear Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, doing a lot of drinking. On a Saturday morning- we’d been there about a week – Jean knocked on the door and said, in a very Viennese accent, ‘Vell boys, you vill haf my songs for the movie.’ Jerry said, ‘Don’t worry Jean, you’ll have them’ Jean said, ‘I know.’ And he pushed a big chair in front of the door and sat down and said, ‘ I’m going to take a nap and I’m not leaving until you have my songs.’ So we wrote four songs in about five hours and then were free to go out.”

The four songs the duo composed were “Jailhouse Rock,” “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care,” “Treat Me Nice” and “I Want to Be Free.”

The movie got its name from this song. When Leiber and Stoller wrote it, the film was titled Ghost of a Chance. The duo had the script and wrote the song for the scene where inmates put on a show in the prison.

After the song was recorded, it was clear that it was going to be a hit, so the movie was renamed Jailhouse Rock. The single was released in September 1957 and reached #1 on October 21. The film was released on November 8.

The line, “Number 47 said to number 3, You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see,” is a sly reference to prison sex but was not offensive enough to create any controversy over the song.

This was a massive hit. It was #1 on the US pop charts for seven weeks, and also reached #1 on the country and R&B charts. In the UK, it entered the charts at #1, becoming the first song to do so.

“Jailhouse Rock” has one of the most memorable intros in rock history: two guitar chords with snare drum hits. The intro last just six seconds, but the pattern repeats throughout the verses, establishing a firm musical hook that remains the envy of songwriters.

ABC television ran a series of educational cartoons called “Schoolhouse Rock” in the ’70s. Millions of kids learned about grammar, history, and astronomy from them. The title was a play on this song.

Ozzy Osbourne played a heavy metal version in 1987 when he did a tour of prisons.

Sha-Na-Na played this at Woodstock in 1969. Very few of the attendees saw their performance, as they didn’t go on until Monday morning (the event was scheduled to end at midnight on Sunday, but ran long). Jimi Hendrix followed Sha-Na-Na to close out the festival.

January 2005 marked what would have been Elvis Presley’s 70th birthday. In commemoration, Elvis’ record label re-released this in the UK where it went straight to #1, making it the oldest recording ever to top the UK charts. It also became the third single to hit #1 twice in the UK, following “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “My Sweet Lord,” both of which were also posthumous re-releases.

In 2007, Chris Rock performed this on the Movies Rock TV special, where modern pop artists performed classic movie songs. Brown re-created Elvis’ scene from the movie.

The Cramps recorded a version of this on the CD The Last Temptation of Elvis. All profits went to a music therapy charity. >>

On November 4, 1957, this topped both the pop and R&B charts. In an odd twist, the next five positions on both charts were also the same songs: “Wake Up Little Susie” by the Everly Brothers, “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke, “Silhouettes” by the Rays, “Be-Bop Baby” by Ricky Nelson, and “Honeycomb” by Jimmie Rodgers.

This song was covered by the Blues Brothers, and featured at the end of the movie of the same name. The brothers and the band are seen playing this song to their fellow inmates.

Mötley Crüe included a live version recorded at a show in Long Beach, California on their 1987 album Girls, Girls, Girls.

Elvis’ real-life band members DJ Fontana, Scotty Moore and Bill Black played his character’s band in the movie, along with Mike Stoller on piano.

In the Leiber and Stoller autobiography Hound Dog, written with David Ritz, Leiber explained he was originally supposed to play the role in the movie because the casting director thought he looked more like a piano player than Stoller. When Leiber and Elvis both protested, the man insisted, “All he has to do is run his fingers over the keys. Any fool can do that.” But when the first day of filming started, Leiber came down with a toothache and had to visit the dentist, so Stoller stepped in. Because he wasn’t a member of the Screen Actors Guild, he wasn’t allowed any dialogue throughout the movie. He also had to shave his goatee because it was “a scene stealer.”

Ever wonder how this jail party ends? Possibly with the inmates peacefully returning to their cells, but it could also have a more violent conclusion. In the 10cc song “Rubber Bullets,” a #1 UK hit in 1973, they sing about a similar jailhouse party, but theirs ends with riot police taking action.

Jailhouse Rock

The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there and they began to wail
The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing
You should’ve heard them knocked-out jailbirds sing