I'm Back

Well, it's been all summer plus since my last post. I plan to make up for that in the next few days so stay tuned.

With the release of the Beatles remastered CDs, it’s time for me to talk about what we’re hearing on these CDs. Yes the vocals are brighter; there’s definitely more bass, especially with the earlier albums.

There’s always those little things going on in the background that you swore you’ve never heard before. But wait a minute. Those sounds were there on the older CDs, and even on the vinyl.

I remember back in the 80s when I bought a CD from ACE of England called “Dion Hits.” At the time, it was the absolute best sounding collection of Dion’s Laurie recordings. The folks who do the remastering at ACE always do a good job to this day. One track, “Runaround Sue,” stuck out. I heard the drummer hit one drumstick with the other during one of his fills. I knew the sound the sticks made because I had played drums myself and often hit the sticks together in that fashion. After convincing myself that I’d not heard that sound on any other copy of “Runaround Sue” that I had on vinyl, I went back and listened to one of the particularly bad recordings and low and behold, the sound of the drumsticks hitting each other was there. I just never noticed until that CD.

Yes I know there have been some very bad, some criminally bad mixes of songs over the years in the Rock & Roll era. However, with the advent of the digital age, which began with the first CDs in the 80s, there have been some masterful remastered, remixed, recordings.

These CDs sound great. But are they really better then the first generation of Beatles CDs that came out in 1987; only time will tell.

Coming up: Abbey Road

I Wonder Why

This is the best video that I've seen from Dion & the Belmonts singing I Wonder Why from back in the day. I suspect it's from American Bandstand, but I'm not totally sure.



Enjoy.

Happy Anniversary

Well I almost got shut down on this due to DSL problems. However, they have been resolved. Today is my wife Adrienne and my 30th Wedding anniversary. There are some other friends who also are celebrating their 30th this year. So, here's Barney Rubble and the Bedrock Four with a little diddy for all people celebrating their Wedding anniversary.

Enjoy.

Coming Clean Pt 1

Well it’s time to come clean on a few things. I’ll start with this.

It seems there’s this movie that will come out on May 8th. It’s about a bunch of people on a starship galloping though the galaxy. I think their names of Kirk and Spock.

Those of you who have known me for a long time are aware of my fondness for this Wagon Train in space. So it should come to no surprise to find that I am very much looking forward to the J. J. Abrams film.

BTW: Adrienne, my wife, is a big fan as well.

You can learn about the new Star Trek movie at www.trekmovie.com.

I'm Back with more Patty McCoy

Sorry I've been away from the blog for some time, busy with other things, but I'm back!

Patty McCoy and the Renegades were from St. Louis and had a couple of songs on the Counsel label. This song came out in the spring of 1963 and has a Phil Spector flavor.



Hope you enjoy the tune.

Baseball Cards and Rock & Roll

I remember back in 1989 when the very first set of Upper Deck baseball cards came out. These were what would be known as “premium” baseball cards, at least back in ’89 they were. These cards were link nothing that preceded them. They were more like fancy playing cards then the traditional cardboard picture cards we all came to know and love through the years.

The other two cards I’m picturing here at two Cardinals rookie cards. The first is #8, Cris Carpenter, not the same Chris Carpenter from the current Cardinals; this Cris Carpenter was a highly regarded pitcher in 1989. Unfortunately, his career would not amount to much.

The third and final card shown is from the “high number” set, #754 Todd Zeile. I remember that Zeile’s 89 Upper Deck card was one, hot tamale. Zeile had good years with the Redbirds, but his career never reached the expectations the media and the fans put on him.

The entire set was expensive for its day and I recall not being able to justify paying $100+ for a complete set. So, I made a deal with a collector friend who was getting married the next summer. I would disc jockey Willie and Ann’s reception and for payment, I’d get a factory box of 1989 Upper Deck baseball cards. Hey I couldn’t turn that down. I got to play music for a bunch of friends, a lot of Oldies at that reception; these folks were like me and really enjoyed the old Rock & Roll.

The not so good news is the Upper Deck set did not sky rocket in value over the years. But I never collected baseball cards for the money. It was the joy of collecting the cards that drove me. It still does to this day; although I don’t buy too many of the new product.

February 3rd, 1959

I remember hearing the news of the plane crash that took The Big Bopper, Richie Valens, and Buddy Holly from us. I was nine years old and listening to Rock & Roll on a daily basis. We had “Chantilly Lace” by the Big Bopper and “Come On Let’s Go” by Richie Valens on 45’s. However, we had no records by Buddy Holly & the Crickets in our modest collection. Come to think of it, I would not get any Buddy Holly songs in my collection until the early 70’s when I bought the Decca release, “Buddy Holly, A Rock & Roll Collection.” At the time of the accident, I had no idea that Dion & the Belmonts were even on the tour. It could have been mentioned on some newscast, but I don’t recall it.

I wouldn’t become aware of just how significant of a contribution Buddy Holly would leave on American popular music until the British Invasion. I knew most of his hits; but it didn’t occur to me that Holly was as important to the history Rock & Roll as he would turn out to be. I had no idea how good Richie Valens was either, not to mention the talent of one Jiles Perry “J.P.” Richardson aka The Big Bopper. All of this would change as I grew older and wiser.
Don McLean would call February 3rd, 1959, “the day the music died.” I’m not going to dispute that here. In fact, I just might add to the mystique of this fateful day when these three stars fell from the sky outside of Mason City Iowa. I will say this, Charles Hardin Holley, may be the most underrated Rock & Roll performer of all time. Buddy Holly had talent. Buddy Holly could play the guitar and he could write songs and better yet, he was starting to become quite a producer. I often wonder what the Rock & Roll music scene would look like today had Holly not lost his life that night. Just how far would he have gone in the business. I wonder if the events following his death would have happened in the way they did, especially the British invasion. Many British acts, including The Beatles, Herman’s Hermits, and The Rolling Stones were heavily influenced by Buddy’s music.

So I guess I could go on and on about the great loss on February 3rd, 1959. Sufficient to say, the music world lost a potential rising star in Valens, a fine entertainer in the Big Bopper, and a major Rock & Roller in Buddy Holly. Let their music live on, and on, and on.

I envite you all to check out The Mystery Train Wreck; there's a link in the blogs I follow section to the right of this page. Ed has assembled some nice videos of these stars.

Way to go Chief!