1958
Welcome to another edition of Max Picks. We will start it off with Ricky Nelson on a slow note but this song is so haunting to me. Nelson wasn’t always taken seriously because of his acting in his parent’s sitcom Ozzie and Harriet. That’s a shame because he released some top-grade rockabilly songs. Here he is with the ballad Lonesome Town.
As promised…here is more Buddy Holly, his window was short but strong. Buddy’s songs would influence everyone from The Stones, Hollies, Beatles, and more. He also could have unknowingly started the Power Pop genre. His jangly guitar and that voice with the hiccups. I went to the Buddy Holly Broadway show when it toured and stopped in Nashville. I can’t explain in words how a 3 piece band sounded so full with the music he wrote.
Now we have the one and only Chuck Berry weaving his lyrics about a guy who left his home to make it playing guitar. This song IS Rock and Roll and has been played by every self-respecting garage band ever since. It’s also covered by heavy metal, country, pop, and rock bands. I would lay money down that somewhere tonight in some bar somewhere…Johnny B. Goode will be heard.
Link Wray and his Ray Men gave us this instrumental Rumble in 1958. This instrumental was somewhat controversial because it implied gang violence – some radio stations refused to play it. It might be the only instrumental song ever banned on the radio. It was feared that the piece’s harsh sound glorified juvenile delinquency. Did the song cause juvenile delinquency? We can only hope.
Now we will end it with an artist that unfortunately is about to go in the Army at this time. He would never be the same again. Yes, we would get some great songs in his future but Elvis Presley became more of an all-around entertainer after this year. His rock and roll days were going to fall behind for a while when he started to make movies. This is a fantastic song.
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