FROM THE VAULTS

Mike Tinsley (born Michael Tinsley,16 December 1940, Portsmouth, Hants. UK ) was the original lead singer with Hedgehoppers Anonymous.

The story begins in November 1959 in rural Cambridgeshire where five aspiring musicians are working as Royal Air Force ground crew and servicing engineers at RAF Wittering. Originally known as The Trendsetters, the very first line up of the band that would become Hedgehoppers Anonymous comprised former Electrons

lead singer Mike Tinsley; lead guitarist and singer John Stewart; rhythm guitarist Tony Cockayne; bass player Ray Honeyball; and drummer Leslie Dash.

The Trendsetters made way for The Hedgehoppers in 1964; a nickname for the “V” bombers at the RAF station, which were famous for using the technique of flying a few hundred feet above the ground under enemy radar to avoid detection and ground-to-air missiles. This was the strategy planned for the RAF bombers during the Cuban crisis in 1962.

By the time they had changed name, the quintet had debuted at the White Lion pub in nearby Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire and

extended their range to Cambridge where they performed at the Dorothy Ballroom and the Corn Exchange. Stuart Dingley, their Cambridge agent, landed The Hedgehoppers a prestigious opening slot for The Kinks at Peterborough Palais, which led to further work, performing on the same bill as The Hollies and The Swinging Blue Jeans.

Soon after changing name to The Hedgehoppers, a civilian living near RAF Wittering, 17-year-old rhythm guitarist and singer Alan Laud replaced Tony Cockayne in what would be the first in a

succession of personnel changes to inflict the band over the coming
years. Laud’s arrival coincided with the band’s “big break” when Hedgehoppers were spotted playing at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge by Trinity College student Kenneth King, who was working as an independent producer at Decca Records through his own company “Jonathan King Enterprises”.

Jonathan King took over their record production in 1965, and added Anonymous to their name.Their major success was the King produced and written "It's Good News Week", issued on Decca.

Overnight, Hedgehoppers Anonymous became a huge media sensation, which threatened to derail the band’s career before it had even begun. The problem was that most of the band were still members of the RAF and had not obtained the proper authority to find employment outside the Armed Forces.

By late November, Tinsley and Stewart had managed to secure a successful discharge. But Dash and Honeybull who had contributed to "It's Good News Week", were unable to stay with the group and were replaced by Tom Fox and Glenn Martin.

Due to the lack of further chart activity leaves them labelled as one-hit wonders. The group released four other tracks before breaking up in 1967.After which Mike Tinsley released his debut solo single, “Let It Be Me”, produced by Kenneth King, on Decca.

Having moved to Halifax, West Yorkshire in February, drummer Glenn Martin revived the name with a new line up and toured the UK for eight months before coaxing original singer Mike Tinsley back for a swansong Swedish tour later that year. On their return to the UK, Tinsley resumes a solo career.

In 1976 Mike Tinsley sings “Wrap Me in Love” co-written with Peter Hawkins of Pickettywitch as a soloist for the UK at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo 1976. He co-writes songs with Peter Yellowstone for Joe Dolan and Kelly Marie.

1994 finds Mike recording the original CD "Songs that won the War" on Prism Leisure Records. In 2009 Mikes solo album My Surival is released on the British Academy Songwriters Composers Authors’ label. The album is produced by Tony Swain, who has previously worked with Spandau Ballet, Alison Moyet and Bananarma among others. Tinsley continues to pursue a solo career.
(Info edited from thestrangebrew.co.uk garagehangover.com)

Here’s Mike Tinsley performing "Will you still love me tomorrow" along with the versatile Vanity Fare at The Rock and roll club at Amersham, 2011. Other acts included Colin Hare Honeybus) and Alan Warner (The Foundations). Chris Farlowe was topping the bill that night, The audience really enjoyed a great evening.

Toni Iordache (December 17, 1942 – February 1988) was a Romani-Romanian lăutar and one of the most famous cimbalom (Romanian: ţambal) players in the world. He was nicknamed the God of the Cimbalom and Paganini of the cimbalom.

Toni was born in the Bâldana village, near Bucharest, and began learning the instrument from his father when he was four. Some years later his family would move to Bucharest in the Herăstrău neighbourhood, where many famous lăutari lived. There, Toni

continued to learn from Mitică Ciuciu, who was a famous cimbalom player in his days.

At 12, he was employed at the National Radio Orchestra of Popular Music. Later, he would become a member of the Ciocârlia National Ensemble, the primary popular ensemble in the country. With the Ciocârlia Ensemble, Toni Iordache would tour the world: many European countries, the USA and also Asian countries. In between tours, he would play at weddings, being the most sought after lăutar of his days. Often, after landing at the airport he would drove directly to a wedding where the other musicians were waiting for him.

He won two gold medals: in Vienna(1959) and Sofia (1966) and appeared as guest soloist in Zoltan Kodaly's 'Hary János Suite' performed by the NHK Symphony Orchestra, in Tokyo, in 1973.

Among others, he played with Romica Puceanu, Gabi Luncă, Ion Onoriu, Ionică Minune and also with the well-known pan flute (nai) player Gheorghe Zamfir.

Although he played a lot of the "popular" music that was promoted by the communist regime, Toni Iordache remained known among aficionados especially for his work as a lăutar. His solos were very complex, but also clear and beautiful and his improvisations were full of imagination. He was not only a very virtuoso player (he was measured in Paris to be able to play 25 notes per second), but also a very sophisticated one, with a high emphasis on touché, playing the slow pieces with great sensibility. He was able to play two melodic lines simultaneous at high tempos and knew how to use the full capacities of the cimbalom.

Here's "Hora de la Bolintin" from above album.

In early seventies Toni Iordache was arrested for possession of foreign currency, which was strictly forbidden in communist Romania. He reportedly wanted to buy a fur coat for his wife with it. Despite his high popularity and interventions in his favour he was sentenced to three years in jail. His imprisonment was kept undisclosed to the press, only his friends knew. During his time in jail he lost greatly in weight. After his release it was obvious that he would not have much time before he was lost to the world.

Toni Iordache died in 1988, from complications due to diabetes. Two hours after having his leg amputated in surgery he died in the recovery room. His friend and fellow musician Costel Vasilescu (also known as Costel Trompetistu') took care of the funeral.

In preparation for the eventuality of his death, he taught his son and his grandson his arrangements and his techniques. Today if you were to go to Bucharest, you could find his son and grandson playing the music of their elder and keeping the heritage of Toni Iordache alive. (Info mainly Wikipedia)

Charles "Charlie" Ryan (December 19, 1915 in Graceville, Minnesota – February 16, 2008 in Spokane, Washington) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for co-writing and first recording the rockabilly hit single "Hot Rod Lincoln".

Ryan grew up in Polson, Montana and moved to Spokane in 1943. He served in the United States Army during World War II. After the war, he worked as a musician and songwriter, touring with

artists such as Jim Reeves and Johnny Horton.

In the late 1940s, he purchased a used 1941 Lincoln Zephyr four-door sedan. After a couple of years, he decided to make a hot rod out of it. He removed the Zephyr body, cut two feet off the frame to shorten the wheelbase and dropped a 1930 Ford Model A coupe body on it. At first, the car was painted black with red wheels. Charlie installed a '48 V-12 engine in it along with the 3 speed with overdrive '48 transmission.

While he was working on the car, Charlie was thinking about the song. By the early 1950s (as "Charley Ryan and The Livingston Brothers"), he had the lyrics worked out and began performing it. Charlie Ryan recorded 'Hot Rod Lincoln' in 1955; it was released as a single by Souvenir Records in 1957. It became a major hit in

many regions of the United States. While travelling to perform, Charlie and his wife Ruthie often took the Hot Rod Lincoln on tour. Ryan released a remake in 1959 as "Charlie Ryan and The Timberline Riders", By 1960 the hot rod needed another engine. Charlie installed a 1939 Lincoln V-12. It's still powering the car today.

During his later years although semi-retired, Charlie would still occasionally perform 'the song.'

Charlie and Ruthie have been awarded lifetime memberships in the

Lincoln & Continental Owners Club. They spent their summers at their Spokane, Washington home; winters were spent relaxing in Arizona. And, after many years, they still had the Hot Rod Lincoln. Charlie and Ruthie often trailered it to events pulled by Charlie's big 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V Cartier Edition coupe.

Charles S. 'Charlie' Charlie Ryan died in February 2008 at age 92. He was survived by his wife of over 70 years, three children, 14 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. Charlie always had a

kind word for everyone and had lots of stories about his cross-country travels as a musical performer. He was a real gentleman and was a delight to all those who knew him. As for Charlie’s car, well it’s still going, although having changed a few owners.

'Hot Rod Lincoln' has been performed by many artists - Johnny Bond had a regional hit with the song in 1959; Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen covered it in 1972. In the 80s, Asleep At The Wheel released a very nice version. In 1995, Jim Varney (aka: Ernest) recorded a cover which was used in 'The Beverly Hillbillies' movie. (Info edited from Wikipedia & joesherlock.com)

Cousin Joe Pleasant (December 20, 1907 — October 2, 1989) was an American blues and jazz singer, later famous for his 1940s recordings with clarinetist Sidney Bechet and saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow. Prior to B.B. King's crossover success, many regarded Cousin Joe as the greatest blues singer.

Born December 20, 1907 in Wallace, LA, 30 miles from New Orleans. His family moved to New Orleans when Joe was 12; he

had a religious upbringing (Baptist) but soon hung around and absorbed himself in the jazz played in clubs. Joe took up guitar and ukulele, and made a living playing on the riverboats in the 30's.

Joe's first singing gig was at the ripe old age of seven, hustling offerings in church. He would do his little thing and the pastor would ask for another offering for Joe. The gig ended a year later when Joe refused to join the church. As 17-year-old Smiling Joe, he played the fish fries held in peoples' backyards on Saturday nights; they served other food, but call them fish fries because the catfish cake was the most popular dish.

He stayed Smiling Joe for 37 years, a woman named him that

because he always smiled. At 21, he hustled the streets with two dancers as Hats, Coats, & Greens, Hats & Coats hoofed their tails off while Smiling Joe picked his ukulele; the people went crazy and threw money at their feet. Louis Prima liked the act and wanted to take them to New York, but Joe's mother squashed that. Joe eventually made it to New York and stayed three or four years. He almost landed a gig with the Ink Spots as Deek Watson's replacement, but their manager didn't think he fit the image.

By 1941, he'd moved to St. Louis to play in Sidney Bechet's band, before shuffling to New York three years later. This was Joe's most fruitful recording period, he waxed many memorable songs during this era under countless names: Smiling Joe, Pleasant Joe, Brother Joshua, and Cousin Joe. He recorded for King, Gotham, Philo (in 1945), Savoy, and Decca along the way, doing well on the latter logo with "Box Car Shorty and Peter Blue" in 1947.

He got the name Cousin Joe from Danny Barker who played in Cab Calloway's band. Barker introduced Joe to Clarke Monroe as "Cos" -- short for cousin. Monroe was the only Black to own a club on 52nd St. -- the Spotlight -- the name stuck longer than Smiling Joe. He put his guitar and ukulele down for good in New York and

pawned them both; he felt he couldn't compete with the great blues guitarist.

In NY, he worked with stars like Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Earl Bostic, Clark Terry, Lightnin' Hopkins, and others. After returning to New Orleans in 1948, he recorded for DeLuxe and cut a two-part "ABCs" for Imperial in 1954 as Smilin' Joe under Dave Bartholomew's supervision. But by then, his recording career had faded. He entered the studio only rarely in the years to follow, focusing instead on learning the piano and rebuilding his reputation as a French Quarter club performer in the '50s and '60s with an occasional European tour thrown in to break the monotony. He spent the '70s in semi-retirement.

He cut a 1971 album for the French Black & Blue label, Bad Luck

Blues, that paired him with guitarists Gatemouth Brown and Jimmy Dawkins and a Chicago rhythm section followed in 1973 by Cousin Joe from New Orleans.

Returning to New Orleans he performed steadily until 1973, when he retired to collect his social security checks. Evidently, the Social Security Administration didn't know about his juke gigs and European tours, because Joe kept that activity on the down low and under the table.

His activities were again curtailed in the years to follow, although in 1987 he published an autobiography, Cousin Joe: Blues from New Orleans.

His last appearance was at the 1989 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival just months before his peaceful passing. He died in his sleep from natural causes in New Orleans, at the age of 81 on October 2, 1989. (Info mainly edited from AMG)

Luise King (21 December 1913 – 4 August 1997) was a member of an American big band-era vocal group consisting of six sisters: Alyce, Donna, Luise, Marilyn, Maxine, and Yvonne King.

The group began with Maxine, Luise, and Alyce as a trio. At some point Maxine declared that going professional really didn’t suit her

and the group eventually took on Donna and Yvonne King and they remained a foursome for many years. In the early 1950's Donna left the group and youngest sister Marilyn joined the group. In 1965 all six sisters sang together on "The King Family" television series and continued singing together in concert into the late 70's and on The King Family's 17 TV specials.

Born to a large musical family, the King Sisters were a popular vocal act during the big band era and are best remembered today for their television variety program during the late 1960s and early

1970s. They began their music careers as part of the Driggs Family of Entertainers, playing local churches and small concert halls in their native Utah before moving to California in 1924.

In the early 1930s sisters Luise, Maxine and Alyce formed a vocal trio along the lines of their idols, the Boswell Sisters, and travelled to San Francisco to audition for radio station KGO (to replace the Boswell Sisters themselves, who were leaving the station). The audition went poorly but they soon landed a job at Oakland radio station KLX, where they adopted the name King, their father's middle name.

The sisters later broadcast for KSL in Salt Lake City, where they were heard by bandleader Horace Heidt. In 1935 he offered them a job with his orchestra at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. The group was a popular addition to Heidt's stage show and travelled with him to Chicago. Maxine left the group in 1936 to be

married. Sisters Donna and Yvonne took her place, forming a four-part harmony. Louise fell in love with Heidt guitarist Alvino Rey, and they were married in 1937.

In 1938 Heidt's orchestra landed a spot at the Biltmore Hotel in New York. Their new radio sponsor had signed them on the strength of Alyce's vocals. Heidt was resentful and seized upon the first opportunity to fire her when one night her microphone fell off its stand and hit a patron. The other sisters immediately quit, followed by Rey. They headed to Los Angeles, where the sisters landed a recording contract with RCA and a spot

on Artie Shaw's radio program while Rey worked on forming his own band.

Rey's orchestra debuted with the sisters as key vocalists in 1939 and was an immediate success. They began touring the country and were later booked into the Biltmore, where they had been fired a year earlier and were quickly fired again when Rey played a jazz number instead of the society dance music favoured by the house. The group found refuge in New Jersey at the Rustic Cabin, where they were broadcast over radio station WOR. Their big break came in 1941 when they were asked to substitute for an ailing Dinah Shore at New York's Paramount Theatre. The engagement led to increased exposure, and they soon found themselves one of the most popular acts in the country, garnering top ten hits and making appearances in Hollywood films.

Here's a 1947 recording of "For You" from above album.

In 1944 Rey dissolved his band and joined the Navy. The sisters kept busy with radio work while he was away and re-joined his new orchestra after the war. Rey broke up the new orchestra in 1950, and the sisters took leave from show business to concentrate on their families. They made a comeback in the late 1950s with Rey as music director and sister Marilyn replacing Donna.

Signing with Capitol Records they released an album of Hawaiian music, followed by a daring vocal album called Imagination. Modernizing their sound along the lines of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross, they created an innovative jazz harmony and once again came into the spotlight. They followed Imagination with the equally inventive Warm and Wonderful, which featured a group of male singers providing counterpoint.

In 1965 ABC broadcast a special featuring the extended King Family. This special grew into a series which ran for five seasons. The sisters continued making sporadic appearances throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Last photo of the Six King Sisters, circa 1995 - First Row, L to R: Alyce, Maxine, Luise Second Row: Donna, Yvonne - Top: Marilyn
Luise King (Rey) died on August 4, 1997 from cancer, the year of her 60th wedding anniversary to Alvino Rey, who died February 24, 2004 at the age of 95.

Alyce King (Clarke) died on August 23, 1996 from respiratory problems.

Donna King (Conkling) passed away on June 16, 2007, at the age of 88, in Plano, Texas.

Yvonne (Burch) died on December 13, 2009, aged 89, after suffering a fall at her home in Santa Barbara, California.

Marilyn King died on August 7, 2013, aged 82, from cancer, also in California; she was the last surviving sister.
(info mainly from parabrisas.com)

Taken directly from an excellent quality 35mm print, here is "Dreamers' Lullabye", as sung by The Four King Sisters. The exact date of this short film is unknown, but it is probably from around 1950. The Alvino Rey Orchestra accompany the sisters, with Buddy Cole predominantly featured on Celeste and piano. The film features the four real-life sisters, Yvonne, Luise, Donna and Alyce.

Lillian "Lil" Green (December 22, 1919 – April 14, 1954) was an American blues singer and songwriter. She was among the leading female rhythm and blues singers of the 1940s, possessed with an ability to bring power to ordinary material and compose superior songs of her own.

Originally named Lillian Green, she was born in Mississippi. Like so many Chicago blues artists, Lil Green first learned her craft in the church and country jukes. After the early deaths of her parents, she went to Chicago, Illinois, in the 1930’s where teamed up with Chicago mainstay Big Bill Broonzy.

Lil Green and her band. Simeon Henry (piano), Big Bill Broonzy (guitar), Lil Green, Ransom Knowling (bass).

Green was noted for superb timing and a distinctively sinuous voice. She was 18 when she recorded her first session for the 35 cent Bluebird subsidiary of RCA. In the 1930s she and Big Bill Broonzy had a night club act together. Her composition "Romance in the Dark" was a 1940 Bluebird hit and in 1941 she followed it with a best-selling version of fellow Mississippi Joe McCoy's minor-key blues novelty "Why Don't You Do Right?" By then she had outgrown Big Bill and the tavern scene and moved east to work as a rhythm & blues band vocalist.

For the next ten years she enjoyed a successful career touring theatres and clubs and recording for RCA, Aladdin, and Atlantic, all major R&B labels. Green toured with Tiny Bradshaw and other bands, but never really broke away from the black theatre circuit.

Although Green signed with Atlantic Records in 1951, she was

already in poor health. She died in Chicago in 1954 of pneumonia, at the age of 34, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Gary, Indiana.

Her experiences paralleled those of her male contemporaries and she made it bigger than most. From Southern jukes to Chicago clubs and on to the Apollo Theatre, she participated in the major blues institutions of her time during the golden age of blues history. She was no stranger to trouble. According to R.H. Harris, the leader of the legendary gospel Soul Stirrers, she served time in prison because of her involvement in a juke-joint killing. He also remembered that she sang religious songs beautifully. Her former partner, Big Bill, remembered her in his autobiography as a deeply religious woman who neither smoked nor drank and as a warm-hearted friend.

Today, however, few people remember her or her fine work, though they may be familiar with Peggy Lee's cover of her big hit "Why Don't You Do Right?" We can only wonder why she has been overlooked while more obscure male guitar players with lesser output have received substantially more critical attention. Whatever the case, during her brief career, she proved to be one of the best blues vocalists of her time and her contemporary African-American audience appreciated her art. She deserves her place in history, and today's listener would do well to listen to her music.

(Info edited from Wikipedia & AMG)

Freddy Gardner (born Frederick James Gardner December 23, 1910, London, England. d: July 26, 1950) was a leading British jazz and dance band musician during the 1930s and '40's.

His father sold artist's materials, while his mother was a dressmaker. Self-taught, he took up the saxophone at 15 to help to alleviate asthma. After minimal coaching he formed the semi-professional New Colorado Band in 1928, and a year later, while working as an office clerk, entered the band in a contest at Chelsea Town Hall, and won. He was spotted by the founding editor of

Melody Maker magazine who was distributing the prizes, and a year later secured his first regular professional position. In 1933, now married to Kathleen, Freddy was taken under the wing of Ray Noble and recorded with the New Mayfair Orchestra.

He was a virtuoso not only on clarinet and alto sax but also on the whole saxophone family. He played in the top London clubs when working with Sidney Lipton's Orchestra; later with Bert Firman's band, and with Canadian-born Billy Bissett, who spent three years in England from 1936, playing at the Mayfair Hotel, London. Gardner became a prolific record session player, doubling on all the reeds, although his main instrument was alto sax. When Duke Ellington came to London for the first time, Freddy played to Ellington's accompaniament at a club in Wardour Street, to the

admiration of the Duke's regular saxophonist, Otto Hardiwcke.

Gardner led small groups in 1936/37, on the Interstate label, distributed by Interstate Music in East Sussex, England. Toward the end of 1937, he began to be billed as "Freddy Gardner and his Swing Orchestra' with which he made many recordings. The band included such musicians as George Chisholm and Ted Heath. These were regularly featured on radio broadcasts, and the band accompanied 'Buck and Bubbles' on their visit to Britain in the late 1930s. Many of the orchestra's arrangements were scored by Gardner himself. He also played with George Scott Wood and his Six Swingers, whose vocalist was Sam Costa, as well as with the Benny Carter Orchestra during Carter's sojourn in Europe.

During World War II, Freddy -always known as 'FG' - joined the Royal Naval Patrol Service (as a diesel engineer) under Eastern Command. An official dance band for the RNPS, called the Blue Mariners, was set up and led by George Crow. Their home was the Sparrow's Nest at Lowestoft, an entertainment centre-cum-theatre appropriated by the Royal Navy, which also attracted theatre and radio stars such as Eric Barker. Other musicians in the band were drawn from the orchestras of Henry Hall and Ambrose. Freddy Gardner was regularly given special leave to continue his recording and broadcasting, such was his high reputation. Other recordings at this time were made under the band name 'Freddie Gardner and his Mess Mates'.

After WWII service, he continued with extensive freelance work, notably as a star soloist with the Peter Yorke Concert Orchestra which usually comprised between 30 to 40 musicians.This band was formed for the BBC and featured in weekly radio programmes

such as The Starlight Hour, and Sweet Serenade. Gardner's 78rpm recordings of classics such as 'Stardust', 'Smoke gets in your eyes', and especially 'I only have eyes for you' continue to be much admired.

The last of these was recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road studios on 29 April 1948, just two years before his sudden death Many of his recordings are still available on CD.

Freddy loved golf, all forms of transport and was a keen modeller. He was taken ill while mending one of his sons' bicycles in the garden of his flat near Marble Arch, and though rushed to hospital, he died of a stroke on 26 July 1950 at only 39 years old. Many in the profession attended his memorial service and he is buried in Willesden Cemetery.(Info from Wikipedia)

Myrtle Eleanor (Lulu Belle) Cooper (December 24, 1913 – February 8, 1999) and Scott Greene Wiseman (November 8, 1908 – January 31, 1981), known professionally as Lulu Belle and Scotty, were one of the major country music acts of the 1930s and 1940s, dubbed The Sweethearts of Country Music.

Myrtle Eleanor Cooper was born in Boone, North Carolina;

Wiseman was from Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Lulu Belle and Scotty enjoyed enormous national popularity thanks to their regular appearances on National Barn Dance on WLS-AM in Chicago, a rival to WSM-AM's Grand Ole Opry. Barn Dance enjoyed a large radio audience in the 1930s and early 1940s with some 20 million Americans regularly tuning in.

The duo married on December 13, 1934, one year after Wiseman became a regular on Barn Dance (Cooper had been a solo performer there since 1932). The duo is best known for their self-penned classic "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?", which became one of the first country songs to attract major attention in pop circles and was recorded by many artists in both genres.

Cooper was the somewhat dominant half of the duo with a comic persona as a wisecracking country girl. Her most famous novelty number was "Daffy Over Taffy". In 1938, she was named Favourite Female Radio Star by the readers of Radio Guide magazine, an unusual recognition for a country performer.

Lulu Belle and Scotty recorded for record labels including

Vocalion Records, Columbia Records, Bluebird Records; and Starday Records, in their final sessions during the 1960s reprising their old hits. They were among the first country music stars to venture into feature motion pictures, appearing in such films as Village Barn Dance (1940), Shine On, Harvest Moon (1938), County Fair (1941) and The National Barn Dance (1944).

For eight years from 1949, Lulu Belle and Scotty hosted their own daily television programme on the Chicago station WNBQ. In 1958 they surprised their fans by virtually quitting music and moving back to North Carolina. Although three albums were cut for Starday, The Sweethearts of Country Music (1963), Down Memory Lane (1964) and Sweethearts Still (1965), their performing days were all but over. He returned to college and obtained a master's degree. He then became a teacher, a farmer, and a bank director

whilst she became involved in local politics, eventually serving in the state legislature. Cooper served two terms from 1975 to 1978 in the North Carolina House of Representatives as the Democratic representative for three counties. In 1977, she gave a memorable speech in which she revealed that she had been raped on the country music circuit.

Scotty Wiseman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. After his death in 1981 from a heart attack in Gainesville, Florida, Cooper married Ernest Stamey in 1983; and in 1989 recorded “Snickers and Tender Memories,” herfirst album in 20 years for a small traditional music label, Mar-lu Records out of Portageville, Missouri.

Myrtle Stamey died of Alzheimer's disease in Ingalls, North Carolina, aged 85. In 2014, Lulu Belle and Scotty Wiseman were posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. (Info mainly Wikipedia)

John Hughey (December 27, 1933 – November 18, 2007) was an American musician. He was known for his work as a session pedal steel guitar player for various country music acts, most notably Vince Gill and Conway Twitty. A member of the Pedal Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, Hughey was known for a distinctive playing style called "crying steel", which focused primarily on the higher range of the guitar.

John began playing guitar at age nine, when his parents bought him

an acoustic guitar from Sears. Influenced by Eddy Arnold's steel guitarist, Little Roy Wiggins, Hughey asked his father to buy him a lap steel guitar. Along with Jenkins and other high school friends, Hughey performed in a local band called the Phillips County Ramblers. Hughey first played professionally as a member of Slim Rhodes and The Mother's Best Mountaineers and stayed with them for 15 years.

In 1968 he met up with his childhood friend Conway Twitty and became a member of Twitty’s backing band, the Lonely Blue Boys. His steel guitar playing was featured on Twitty’s first US country number 1, ‘Next In Line’.

The Lonely Blue Boys evolved into the Twitty Birds and for a time, also included John’s brother, Gene. His steel guitar with its ‘crying’ sound was featured on most of Conway’s chart-topping singles, but by 1980 Hughey was becoming frustrated. Twitty had sold the franchise for his souvenirs to another company and so his backing

musicians no longer received their percentage cut on the sales. Twitty was also moving away from the steel guitar and after several unhappy years, Hughey finally left in 1988.

His session work included two albums with Elvis Presley (From Elvis In Memphis and Back In Memphis) as well as albums with Joe Diffie, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Dean Martin, Marty Stuart, Willie Nelson, Dickey Betts and Dolly Parton.

By the 1980s, he began playing for Loretta Lynn, then moved on to play steel for Vince Gill for twelve years. Hughey was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1996. In the 2000s, he and several other Nashville musicians formed a Western swing band

called The Time Jumpers, who performed every Monday at a club in Nashville.

Hughey's method of steel guitar playing was known as the "crying steel" method, because of his use of tremolo on the instrument's higher range Vince Gill has cited Hughey as giving "definition" to his music, citing the single "Look at Us" (from 1991's Pocket Full of Gold) as an example. According to Gill, that song's steel guitar intro "makes that song recognizable by what happens before any words even get sung. "Marty Stuart, for whom Hughey played on the 1992 album This One's Gonna Hurt You, described him as "a top drawer

statesman who helped define the whole 20th century sound of country music".

Hughey died in Nashville on November 18, 2007 from heart complications, one month after having had a stent put in his heart. His funeral was held on November 21, 2007 at the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. (Info edited from Wikipedia & AMG)

Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, talent scout, disc jockey, record producer, television show host, artist, author, journalist, minister, and impresario. A seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll, Otis discovered artists such as Little Esther, Big Mama

Thornton, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John and Hank Ballard and Etta James. Known as the original "King of Rock & Roll", he is commonly referred to as the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".

Otis was born in Vallejo, California, to Greek immigrants Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter. He grew up in a predominantly black neighbourhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned a neighbourhood grocery store.

Otis began playing drums as a teenager, when he purchased a set by forging his father's signature on a credit slip. Soon after he dropped out of Berkeley High School during his junior year, Otis joined a local band with pianist friend 'Count' Otis Matthews called the

West Oakland Houserockers. By 1939, they were performing at many of the local functions, primarily in and around the Oakland and Berkeley area, and became quite popular among their peers.

Otis played in a variety of swing orchestras, including Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders, and Harlan Leonard's Rockets, until he founded his own band in 1945 and had one of the most enduring hits of the big band era, "Harlem Nocturne", an Earle Hagen composition.

His band included Wynonie Harris, Charles Brown, and Illinois Jacquet, to name a few. In 1947, he and Bardu Ali opened the Barrelhouse Club in the Watts district of Los Angeles. He reduced the size of his band and hired singers Mel Walker, Little Esther Phillips and the Robins (who later became the Coasters). He discovered the teenaged Phillips when she won one of the Barrelhouse Club's talent shows. With this band, which toured extensively throughout the United States as the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, he had a long string of rhythm and blues hits through 1950.

Otis discovered tenor saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, who then performed on his uptempo "Barrelhouse Stomp". He began recording Little Esther and Mel Walker for the Newark, New Jersey-based Savoy label in 1949, and began releasing a stream of hit records, including "Double Crossing Blues", "Mistrustin' Blues" and "Cupid Boogie"; all three reached no. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. In 1950, Otis was presented the R&B Artist of the Year

trophy by Billboard. He also began featuring himself on vibraphone on many of his recordings.

In 1951, Otis released "Mambo Boogie" featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone guajeos in a blues progression. This was to be the very first R&B mambo ever recorded.

Around the time Otis moved to the Mercury label in 1951, he discovered vocalist Etta James, who was only 13 at the time, at one

Johnny Otis, center, with Mel Walker and Esther Phillips

of his talent shows. He produced and co-wrote her first hit, "The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry)".

Otis produced the original recording of " Hound Dog" written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with vocal by Big Mama Thornton, and was given a writing credit on all six of the 1953 releases of the song. As an artist and repertory man for King Records he also discovered Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard, and Little Willie John, among others. He also became an influential disk jockey in Los Angeles.

However, he continued to perform, and in April 1958, he recorded his best-known recording "Willie and the Hand Jive", which went on to be a huge hit in the summer of 1958. His most famous composition is "Every Beat of My Heart", first recorded by The Royals in the 1952 but which became a huge hit for Gladys Knight.

In the 1960s he entered journalism and politics, losing a campaign for a seat in the California Assembly (one reason for the loss may be that he ran under his much less well known real name). He then became chief of staff for Democratic Congressman Mervyn M. Dymally. He was also was the pastor of Landmark Community Church. In 1969 he recorded an album of sexually explicit material under the name Snatch and the Poontangs. In 1970 he played at the

legendary Monterey Jazz Festival with Little Esther Phillips and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson.

In the 1990s Otis bought a farm near Sebastopol, California, north of San Francisco. For a time he ran a coffee shop / grocery store / blues club, where one of the featured singers was the Georgia-born singer Jackie Payne. Around this time Otis also founded and pastored a new church, Landmark Community Gospel Church, which held weekly rehearsals in the tiny town of Forestville, California and Sunday services in Santa Rosa, California. Landmark's worship services centered on Otis' preaching and the traditional-style performances of a gospel choir and a male gospel quartet, backed

by a rocking band that featured Otis' son Nicky Otis and Shuggie's son, Lucky Otis. The church closed its doors in the mid 1990s.

Otis continued performing through the 1990s and headlined the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1990 and 2000, although because of his many other interests he went through long periods where he did not perform. He was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

He had a popular radio show on KPFA, called The Johnny Otis Show. This show was aired every Saturday Morning, live from the Powerhouse Brewery in Sebastopol. Listeners were invited to stop in for breakfast and enjoy the show live. Alas, the show's frequency deteriorated along with Johnny's

health. When Otis moved to Los Angeles, the show stuttered, then stopped completely and now even the Powerhouse has closed its doors. The last real show was August 19, 2006 when Otis and his wife relocated back to Los Angeles.

Otis died of natural causes on January 17, 2012, in the Altadena area of Los Angeles just three days before Etta James, whom he had discovered in the early 1950s. (Info from Wikipedia)

Joseph Cook (December 29, 1922 – April 15, 2014), known as Little Joe Cook, was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of Little Joe & The Thrillers, whose song "Peanuts" reached no. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957.

Joe Cook was born in Philadelphia in 1922, and by 1934 at age 12, had organized his own gospel group, the Evening Star Quartet. With his falsetto voice, winning personality, and dazzling musical instincts, he was a popular local figure in Philadelphia when he

Little Joe & The Thrillers

started recording in 1949. He later had his own radio show in Philadelphia and in the early ‘50s he decided to make the jump to rhythm & blues, which was booming at the time.
He organized the Thrillers with Farrie Hill (second lead), Richard Frazier (tenor), Donald Burnett (baritone), and Henry Pascal (bass), and by 1956 they had a contract with OKeh, the rhythm & blues imprint of Columbia Records. Their first single "Do the Slop," released that year, became a regional hit in New York and Philadelphia, and got enough action to justify an appearance at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. The Slop was one of two dances that Little Joe Cook introduced (the other was the Bicycle Bounce), and made him one of the top R&B figures in Philadelphia. It sold well enough to justify further efforts on their behalf by OKeh, which was trying to get in on the rock & roll boom.

The group's second single, "Peanuts," released in 1957, featured Cook's piercing falsetto voice as the lead. It was catchy and distinctive enough to get the group an appearance on American Bandstand. Little Joe & the Thrillers became one of the first R&B groups to score a national hit through television exposure; the

single was propelled, with help from Bandstand and host Dick Clark, to number 23 nationally, and it sold in huge numbers.

This was to be the Thrillers' only national hit; they tried to score a second time with "The Echoes Keep Calling Me," a faster-paced number that put Cook's falsetto out in front again, but the record never charted. OKeh kept releasing Little Joe & the Thrillers' records until 1961, with "I Love You for Sentimental Reasons," which ended their contract. The group recorded one single for 20th Century Records before disappearing. (Ironically, the OKeh label that they'd left behind vanished into inactivity around the same time).

While "Peanuts" was climbing the charts, Little Joe Cook and the Thrillers parted company, supposedly over money issues. Joe continued as a solo, billing himself on his next record as "Little Joe, the Thriller". Farris Hill, Harry Paschall, Richard Frazier and Donald Burnett regrouped, changing their name to the Royal Demons and the Madison Brothers.

Joe Cook and the group did remain on friendly terms and Cook used the four on occasion when he needed a group. The original

Thrillers were called back in 1960 when Joe needed a group to record "Stay".

During the early '60s, Cook organized a girl group with his daughters, eventually called the Sherrys, who charted with one record before a couple of marriages and a change in management forced them out of the business. Cook moved to Boston in the late 1960s, and continued to perform in clubs. He had a residency at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1980 until he retired in 2007, being voted the region's Best Local R&B Performer in 2002.

Cook died on April 15, 2014, at the age of 91. He is survived by his wife Joanne and six children.

(Info edited from AMG & Wikipedia & doo-wop blogg)

John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore.

Born John Cowan Harford in New York City, New York, when his

father was attending medical school, he moved with his family to Saint Louis, Missouri and his father set up a medical practice. As a boy, he liked the traditional country music he heard on the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee, and by age 13 he was an accomplished guitar player, fiddler and five-string banjo player whose main influences were David "Stringbean" Akeman, Benny Martin, and Earl Scruggs. He was also influenced by many local

musicians, including Homer Dillard, his sons Rodney and Doug Dillard, and Gene Goforth, playing music with them every chance that he could.

After graduating from high school, he attended Washington University in Saint Louis, completing 4 years of a commercial arts program, dropping out to pursue a musical career, but he finally received his Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree in 1960. In 1965 he moved to Nashville, taking a disc jockey job at radio station WSIX and a year later he signed a recording contract with Chet Atkins at RCA, who suggested that he add a "t" to his last name, changing it from Harford to Hartford.

His second Nashville album, "Earthwords & Music," included the track "Gentle on My Mind" which was also recorded and sung by Glen Campbell in 1967, giving the song a much wider publication that resulted in Grammy Awards for the Best Folk Performance and the Best Country and Western Song.

He then relocated to Southern California where he became a regular on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and continued to record albums. He returned to Nashville in 1971 to go back to his traditional roots, forming a bluegrass band with prominent Nashville musicians that featured guitarist Norman Blake, dobro player Tut Taylor, and Vassar Clemens on fiddle. At that time he switched record labels from RCA to Warner Brothers, recording several albums that would set the tone of his later career, which would be defined as "newgrass."

While music was his first love, his second love was steamboats, and in the 1970s he earned his steamboat's pilot license, working summers on the Julia Belle Swain. He also occasionally worked as

a towboat pilot on the Mississippi, Illinois, and Tennessee Rivers.

A wry performer who often wrote witty lyrics to his songs, he invented his shuffle tap dance move, clogging on an amplified piece of plywood while he played and sang. He would change record labels several more times, including his own label Small Dog Barking, continuously experimenting with non-traditional country and bluegrass styles, winning a Grammy Award for his "Mark Twang" album in 1976.

In 1980 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma but continued to tour and record, and was involved in the narration of the Ken Burns public television series "The Civil War."

In 2000, he recorded several songs for the soundtrack of the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou," winning another Grammy Award. His last bluegrass album, "Hamilton Iron Works," a collection of old-time fiddle tunes that he had learned throughout his life, was recorded shortly before his death.

Overall, he recorded more than 30 albums that embraced a broad spectrum of styles, from traditional country to "newgrass" to the traditional folk and bluegrass style. In the last few months of his life, his disease progressed to the point where he lost the use of his hands and could no longer play a musical instrument.

He died from his disease at the age of 63. He was given a star on the Saint Louis Walk of Fame and in September 2005 he received a posthumous Presidents Award by the Americana Music Association. (bio mainly by William Bjornstad)

Odetta Holmes, (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008) known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important

figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she was influential musically and ideologically to many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin.

Odetta Holmes was born in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 31, 1930, in the depths of the Depression. The music of that time and place — particularly prison songs and work songs recorded in the fields of the Deep South — shaped her life. Her father, Reuben Holmes, died when she was young, and in 1937 she and her mother, Flora Sanders, moved to Los Angeles. Three years later Odetta discovered that she could sing.She found her own voice by listening to blues, jazz and folk music from the African-

American and Anglo-American traditions. She earned a music degree from Los Angeles City College.

In 1950 Odetta began singing professionally in a West Coast production of the musical “Finian’s Rainbow,” but she found a stronger calling in the bohemian coffeehouses of San Francisco. She moved to New York in 1953 and began singing in nightclubs like the storied Blue Angel, cutting a striking figure with her guitar and her close-cropped hair, her voice plunging deep and soaring high. Her songs blended the personal and the political, the theatrical and the spiritual. Her first solo album, “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues,” released in 1956, resonated with an audience eager to hear old songs made new.

"There's a Hole in My Bucket" is a children's song, along the same lines as "Found a Peanut". The song is based on a dialogue about a leaky bucket between two characters, called Henry and Liza.

Harry Belafonte recorded it with Odetta in 1960. It was in the UK charts in 1961.

In 1960 Odetta gave a celebrated solo concert at Carnegie Hall and released a live album of it. Eight years later she was on stage there again, now with Mr. Dylan, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and other folk stars in a tribute to Woody Guthrie,

which was also recorded for an album. Odetta’s blues and spirituals led directly to her work for the civil rights movement.

Her fame hit a peak in 1963, when she marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and performed for President John F. Kennedy. But with King’s assassination in 1968, much of the wind went out of the sails of the civil rights movement, and the songs of protest and resistance that had been the movement’s soundtrack began to fade. Odetta’s fame flagged for years thereafter.

In 1999 President Bill Clinton awarded her the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Medal of Arts. In 2003 she received a Living Legend tribute from the Library of Congress and a National Visionary Leadership award.

Odetta married three times: to Don Gordon, to Gary Shead, and, in 1977, to the blues musician Iverson Minter, known professionally as Louisiana Red. The first two marriages ended in divorce; Mr. Minter moved to Germany in 1983. Odetta was singing and performing well into the 21st century — 60 concerts in the last two years. In April 2007, a half-century after Mr. Dylan first heard her, she returned to Carnegie Hall to perform in a tribute to Bruce Springsteen. She turned one of his songs, “57 Channels,” into a chanted poem, and Mr. Springsteen came out from the wings to call it “the greatest version” of the song he had ever heard.

Her last "big concert," before thousands of people, was in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on October 4, 2008, for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Odetta, who lived in Upper Manhattan, had been admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital during November 2008 with a number of ailments, including kidney trouble. On December 2, 2008, Odetta died from heart disease and pulmonary fibrosis in New York City. In her last days she had been hoping to sing at the presidential inauguration for Barack Obama.

At her memorial service in February 2009 at Riverside Church in New York City, participants included Maya Angelou, Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Geoffrey Holder, Steve Earle, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Peter Yarrow, Tom Chapin, Josh White, Jr. (son of Josh White), Emory Joseph, Rattlesnake Annie, the Brooklyn Technical High School Chamber Chorus, and videotaped tributes from Tavis Smiley and Joan Baez. (Info edited from Wikipedia & mainly NY Times)

Eric Winstone (b. 1 January 1915, London, England. d. 2 May 1974, Pagham, Sussex, England) was a popular bandleader and composer from the 30s through to the 70s.

Winstone worked as a clerk at the Gas Light and Coke Company in Westminster, and played the piano in his spare time, before leaving to become a full time musician. After leading his first band at the

Spanish Club in Cavendish Square, London in 1935, he learned to play the accordion, and eventually founded an accordion school. He became an accomplished arranger for the instrument, and formed his renowned Accordion Quintet and Swing Quartet. The latter outfit consisted of himself on accordion, with string bass, vibraphone, guitar and vocalist Julie Dawn.

During World War II he led the Eric Winstone Dance Orchestra and toured throughout Europe entertaining the troops. After the war his highly popular stage show played theatres and ballrooms, and was resident at Butlin's Holiday Camps in the summer for more than 20 years.

His best-remembered compositions include the atmospheric "Stage Coach" (his signature tune), "Oasis", "Bottle Party", "Mirage", "Pony Express", and he also wrote several light pieces and some background music for films.

His limited company, Eric Winstone Orchestras Ltd., was involved

in a widely reported court case involving Diana Dors in 1957. Dors had been engaged to appear with the orchestra at a charity matinee in July 1954 for the RAF Association in Clacton, where Winstone's orchestra was playing a season at Butlins holiday camp.

She failed to fulfil the singing commitment, which was to take place in a cinema, due to having a septic throat. She claimed that the illness had been notified to the company. The company argued that she was fulfilling her film commitments and therefore the illness was an excuse, and furthermore that being unable to sing was not the issue at stake as merely saying "hello" would have sufficed.

Eric Winstone rehearsing with singer Ray Merrill in the background

Winstone's company sued for breach of contract and this caused Dors to counter-sue for slander, the outcome of which was that the company was awarded £5 compensation and Dors received 100 guineas. The judge in the case said that the company's financial loss had been non-existent, having heard that it was to receive £210 for the performance and a further £40 if all the seats were sold. Dors, who was to receive £80 for her fifteen-minute appearance, donated her court award to the charity.

Winstone had a somewhat tempestuous personal life at times. In September 1959 he obtained a court order that banned his mother-

in-law from staying at his home. In the same month a court ordered that an "iron curtain" be constructed in the property so as to split the rooms between himself, then aged 46, and his wife and two-year-old daughter. He was also ordered to stop playing his piano by 6pm each day in order not to disturb his family. At that time he was using it to compose arrangements for three bands and five radio shows. Four months later, his then 26-year-old wife, Myrtle, a former fashion model, was seeking a judicial separation. They had married in February 1957.

For some years Winstone was the musical director for Southern Television, and he also ran an entertainment agency for a time.

During the 1970s Eric recorded various LPs for the Avenue International label, some of which included arrangements and compositions by composers who worked for the Amphonic library. His Eric Winstone Plays 007 LP from 1973 was co-produced and co-arranged by Syd Dale. Eric co-wrote Opus 88 that was included on the first Amphonic library LP, also composing for the Conroy and Francis Day and Hunter recorded music libraries. (info various mainly Wikipedia & New Musical Express)

Judd Proctor ( b Doncaster, England, 2nd Jan 1932), is a UK jazz guitar pioneer, banjoist and composer, who was considered in the British recording world to have the fastest left hand in the business.

Originally played plectrum banjo but switched to acoustic guitar at 14, played gigs with local bands and won a regional Melody Maker contest with The Zetland Players. Did National Service with the RAF 1951 – 1953 and while stationed at Maidstone played in Les Evans rehearsal band and took lessons from Ike Isaacs.

After demobilisation he did his first professional work with Peter Fielding at Nottingham Palais. Played summer seasons with various bands then then moved to London to join Norman Burns from February until July 55.

Judd was a member of Ray Ellington's Quartet for 6 years from July 1955. Many radio dates included the Goon Show broadcasts.. Left Ray Ellington to concentrate on session work, playing for television radio, recordings etc. He recorded under various guises for the Embassy record label in the early 60’s. He was lead guitar on The Springfield’s hit “Silver Threads and Golden Needles.” He was also lead guitar on Cilla Black’s “You’re My World.” He also recorded about 12 sides for the Parlophone label.

Proctor took time out to tour Japan with Stanley Black in 1965 and to work with Benny Goodman on record and on various concerts in England 1971. He has also worked under both jazz and classical conductors, such as Nelson Riddle, Robert Farnon and Henry Mancini and with artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby.

Here’s a quote from the February 1967 magazine Crescendo: “Judd Proctor, a much-heard guitarist on radio and TV has certainly made a name for himself in the past ten years. Starting to meet the public eye with the Ray Ellington Quartet, he has moved from strength to strength as a session man and soloist....

...There is apparent in him a constant maturing of style and performance. One can only admire such persistent development, both musically and technically, despite the odds of having to perform, in one’s profession, music that is not very conducive to improvement along these lines…We have in Judd today a guitarist who is equal to the best we can get on any level, with a lot of surprises in store as the years pass. He is a vital personality, with a sense of humour and mimicry that keeps his fellow musicians in fits.”

In 1968 he released his album Guitars Galore. He was often in Don

Lusher's big band during the late 70's and 80's but mainly occupied with session work in the 1990's (e.g. with Peggy Lee, Jack Parnell, Max Harris and many more). Judd was an early sponsor of the Hofner President guitar, distributed by Selmer. Until recently he was part of the revived Bert Kaempfert Orchestra.

TV appearances include Stars And Garters (1965) The Val Doonican Show (1967) The Cliff Richard Show (1970) Michael Feinstein in Concert (1989) 30 Years of Last of the Summer Wine (2003). His acting roles include appearances on Upstairs Downstairs (1974) Never The Twain (1982) As Time Goes By (1992)

(Info from various sources mainly jazzeddie.f2s.com & IMDB)

Gene Summers (born January 3, 1939 in Dallas, Texas) is an American rock/rockabilly singer and entertainer.

Gene Summers was an only child, born in 1939 in Dallas, but he went to school in Duncanville, Texas. Having mastered the guitar in Arlington State College during his high school days, he formed his own band in 1957, the Rebels (Gene Summers, Jerry Mann, Benny Williams and James McClung). After performing on Joe

Bill's Country Picnic on KRLD-TV in Dallas, they were discovered by Jed Tarver, a local songwriter, who wrote under his wife's name, Mary Tarver, and who would go on to write many of Gene's best recordings.

Tarver introduced the group to Dallas oilman Tom Fleeger, who had just started a new record label, which he had called Jan Records, after his mother. Fleeger signed the Rebels in late 1957 and supervised their 1958 Jan recordings, which still stand out as Gene's best work. His debut record, credited to Gene Summers and his Rebels, was released on February 1, 1958, and coupled "School

Of Rock 'n' Roll" (written by group member James McClung) with Tarver's "Straight Skirt".

Tom Fleeger was used to being successful and thought he could build Jan into a major label. He set up an office in Hollywood and decided to record there, to get that hit sound. The first session was done at Master Recorders, soon followed by a second session at the Liberty studio. That session produced "Nervous", "Twixteen" and "Gotta Lotta That", recorded with top L. A. session men However, the second and third Jan single (Nervous / Gotta Lotta That and Twixteen / I'll Never Be Lonely) sold no better than "School Of Rock 'n' Roll", good as they were, and Tom Fleeger soon lost interest.

In the spring of 1961, Summers left the Rebels in order to bolster the membership of another band that had been known up until then as Tommy & the Tom Toms. Tommy -- as in Tommy Brown -- had decided to leave Texas for Florida In the meantime, Summers had already made two records of his own for the regional Jan label and was an excellent choice as replacement front man for what then logically became Gene Summers & the Tom Toms.

Summers kept the band active through the fist half of the '60s. Gene's subsequent recordings would be made in Texas, usually Dallas or Fort Worth, for a host of local labels. Some of his classic recordings include "Big Blue Diamond", which was picked up for national distribution by Jamie Records in 1964, but did not chart nationally.

In the 1970's Gene was a nightclub owner/entertainer and then went on to headline tours in England, France, Sweden, Holland, Finland

in 1980-81. He was featured as the headliner of the 1981 1st Scandanavian Rock & Roll Meeting. Also in 1981 Gene co-headlined the 1st International Rockabilly Festival/ France. That same year he appeared on the National French Television Program "Le Grande Echiqier" with Jacques Dutronc that drew a viewing audience of 20 million. He would return to Europe many times, recording a live LP in Sweden in the process (1983). Two heart attacks in 1991 forced him to slow down, but he made a come- back and is still performing today.

In 1997, Summers was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and had a collection of his recordings reissued on the Crystal Clear Sound imprint. Do Right Daddy, a new studio album for the Eviken label in 2004, was the appropriate move for a historic Dallas rocker standing on the threshold of a half a century in the music business. Summers was inducted into the The Southern Legends Entertainment & Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2005.

In 2008 he recorded and released a new CD, "Reminisce Cafe" on the Silicon label, his first US studio recording since 1980.

He still performs worldwide and celebrated his 50th anniversary as a recording artist in 2008 with the release of Reminisce Cafe. (Info various including Wikipedia, AMG and Black Cat Rockabilly)

Carroll Gibbons (January 4, 1903 – May 10, 1954) was an American-born pianist, bandleader and popular composer who made his career primarily in England during the British dance band era.

He was born and raised in Clinton, Massachusetts. He gave his first recital at the age of 10 at St. John’s Catholic Church, 80 Union Street. He grew up at 65 Forest Street and played in the Clinton High School orchestra and also wrote the class song. After graduating from Clinton High School, where he was known as “Gibby,” he continued his studies at New England Conservatory of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London.

While still at NEC, Gibbons became fast friends with Rudy Vallee, a fellow classmate studying the saxophone. After graduating, the two men formed a band that became a regional sensation, barnstorming the New England scene of the early Jazz Age.

In 1923, both musicians found themselves working at the Savoy Hotel, located just off the Strand, in the Westminster section of Central London. At the time, the establishment employed two working orchestras -- the Havana Band and the Orpheans. Both Gibbons and Vallee worked in each group.

Gibbons soon collected a gig playing dinner music at the Berkeley Hotel in Piccadilly. He also began studying with Ambrose Coviello at the Royal Academy of Music. While at the Berkeley, Gibbons also began organizing his own band, and when a spot opened at the Savoy in 1926, the enterprising young pianist was hired. “The

clientele at London’s top hotel quickly warmed to the quiet American with that unforgettable slow drawl – the result of speech therapy to cover up a childhood stammer.

He later became the co-leader (with Howie Jacobs) of the Savoy Orpheans and the bandleader of the New MayFair Orchestra, which recorded for the Gramophone Company on the HMV label. In 1928 Gibbons became musical director of the Gramophone Company. He later held that position with both British and Dominion Film Corporation. In 1929, he appeared in the film Splinters, and would later contribute to such British celluloid as Trottle True, Call All Stars, I Live in Grosvenor Square, and Rookery Nook.

Gibbons made occasional return trips to the United States but settled permanently in England, though he did spend a couple of years (1930–1931) in Hollywood, where he worked as a staff composer for MGM films. He took exclusive leadership of the Savoy Hotel Orpheans, which recorded hundreds of popular songs (many of which were sung by Anne Lenner) between June 1932 and his death in 1954, all featuring Gibbons on piano.

Starting in about 1931, he also recorded many sophisticated records featuring a piano-led small group playing pop tunes and medleys under the name of Carroll Gibbons and his Boy Friends, of which some contained tracks by singer Hildegarde.

As a composer, Gibbons's most popular songs included "A Garden in the Rain" (1928) and his radio signature "On The Air" (1932) which was appropriated by American band leaders Rudy Vallée (1933) and 'Lud Gluskin' (1936).

Gibbons' instrumental numbers "Bubbling Over" and "Moonbeam Dance" were also quite successful in the United Kingdom. Gibbons and his orchestra had a weekly show on Radio Luxembourg in the 1930s, sponsored by Hartley's Jam.

Through the radio, he became a household name with popular tunes like A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, Dancing in the Dark, and I'm Going to Get Lit Up. His last recording was made in 1950 and marked the end of a remarkable recording career

After a short illness, Gibbons died in a London nursing home in 1954. He was 51. He is one of several famous musicians buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England. (Info edited from Wikipedia & worcestersongs.blogspot)

In this clip from the 1941 film "The Common Touch", Carroll Gibbons accompanies the actress Greta Gynt. A review I read of this film suggests that Miss Gynt's singing voice was dubbed, possibly by Anne Lennor.

Don Rondo (January 5, 1930 – January 27, 2011), born Donald Rondeau, was an American singer of popular music ballads during the mid-1950s, known for his distinctive baritone voice.

Born in Ware, Massachusetts, he sang with local groups and on radio before coming to the attention of Jubilee Records. His first recording for the label, "Two Different Worlds" established him as one of the decade's pre-eminent crooners. Released in October

1956, the song spent three months on the Billboard chart, peaking at #11. It eventually went on to sell in excess of a million copies, and established Rondo at a time when music of his genre was facing strong competition from rock and roll. Among his television appearances was a 1957 appearance on the TV game show, To Tell the Truth.

Because of the success of "Two Different Worlds", Jubilee quickly followed it up with another release, a double A-side, "The Love I Never Had" and a cover of Elvis Presley's song, "Don't". However, this fared less well, and a third single, "On Forgotten Street" also failed to make an impact.

Changing tempo in 1957, his next release was a cheerful number, "White Silver Sands", written by Red Matthews, and which provided him with a #7 chart hit, The song actually became Jubilee's biggest selling hit, and another million-seller, but the gold disc winning "White Silver Sands" was to be Rondo's last major

hit. On the B-side of this record was the jazz classic Stars Fell on Alabama.

Other releases followed, including "There's Only You" and "Forsaking All Others", but these barely made it into the charts.

After leaving Jubilee, Rondo signed with Atlantic Records, where he released another double A-side, "Malibu" / "So Did I". He also recorded songs for Carlton Records, Roulette and Decca. Among his Carlton releases were "A Hoot 'n A Holler", while his Roulette recordings included "The Golden Rule". Among his Decca recordings are "Beyond The Mighty River" and "Evening Star." None of these achieved the success of his early Jubilee material, however, and musical tastes had, by then, dramatically shifted.

After retiring from live music in the 1960's, Don enjoyed a second career singing advertising jingles for companies like Stroh's Beer, Firestone Tires, GMC trucks, Chevy, Firebird Oil, Detroit Tigers, Burger Beer, and The Hymn Of The National Guard.

In the 1970's Don retired completely from music and moved to New Hampshire where he opened and ran a successful small business and invested in real estate. Don became very vocal about local politics and soon a New Hampshire TV station hired him to moderate a local political talk show where Don's no-holds-barred, outspoken views generated a lot of buzz, earning him a lot of new fans and even a few detractors.

His local TV career soon led to a year-long stint on radio, again moderating a politically charged talk show. In 1976, he established Ronson Ziebart in Hooksett, NH and resided there the rest of his life with is family.

Donald T. Rondeau passed away on January 27, 2011 after a valiant battle with lung cancer at his home in Contoocook, NH at the age of 81. For a short time in the late nineteen fifties, he was the voice of pop music excellence and at the top of his game. Two Jubilee label million sellers and a lot of fine music was the result, and to this day remains a voice to remember. (Info edited mainly from Wikipedia & superoldies.com)

Dave Sampson (9 January 1941 – 5 March 2014) was an English rock singer.

Perhaps somewhat unfairly lumbered with the one-hit wonder tag, Dave Sampson made a minor impression on the British charts with the catchy self-penned Sweet Dreams, which peaked at number 29 in July 1960. A fine singer of beat ballads and light rockabilly tunes, Sampson’s style was probably too close to that of his friend Cliff Richard for him to achieve lasting success of his own.

David John 'Dave' Sampson was born 9 January 1941 at Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. On leaving school he found employment as a messenger boy for an advertising agency in London’s West End, prior to forming a skiffle group in 1957 with friends in Chingford, where he lived.

He moved on to play in various bands on the London rock'n'roll scene, notably The Parker Royal Four which included some schoolmates of Cliff Richard. His first ever recording was a four tune extended play demo disc with Steve Laine later of the

Liverpool Five. Both Dave and Steve were the singers with a band that never was named.

After meeting and performing with Cliff and The Shadows, Dave wrote the song "Sweet Dreams" with Cliff in mind. Sampson made a demo recording of the song in a Soho studio, which he took along to Cliff Richard’s house to see what he thought of it. In turn, Richard played the disc for EMI producer Norrie Paramor, who ended up signing Dave to record the song himself.

Sweet Dreams" became a UK hit single in May 1960 for Dave Sampson and his backing band, The Hunters, which peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart. "Sweet Dreams" was released on the Columbia Records label, and spent six weeks in the chart.

Dave Sampson & the Hunters made five singles and an EP in the early '60s that were very much in the Cliff Richard & the Shadows mold, with their imitation of the tamer elements of Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson, as well as the cleanly echoing, almost surf-Hawaiian sound of the guitars. After “Sweet Dreams” none of his subsequent efforts charted. Dave Sampson wasn't without his virtues, he wrote a couple of his singles, including "Sweet Dreams," and had occasional brushes with a polished rockabilly sound.

During the 1960s Dave toured with a number of British pop stars of the day. As well as Cliff Richard and the Shadows, they included

Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and Joe Brown. From 1963 he worked in Hamburg at The Star Club and The Top Ten Club along with The Beatles and other international stars including Jerry Lee Lewis, before returning to England and running a record shop in Walthamstow for several years.

In the late nineties, Sampson and the Hunters reformed for the occasional show, with the RPM label issuing a CD containing their entire recording output.

A recent highlight of Dave's career was his 2005 appearance with the legendary guitarist James Burton in the Ricky Nelson tribute show, Remembering Ricky. Dave has also made several appearances via the 2i's Reunion at the 100 Club in Central London. He also appeared to an audience of Teddy boys at The Pavilion pub in Battersea organised by the International Edwardian Teddy Boy Association in 2010 in which he appeared with Clem Cattini and Cliff Edmonds in a session band called "The 2i's Boys".

Sampson died at Colchester Hospital, Colchester, Essex, in March 2014, aged 73.

(Info mainly from theStage.co.uk, Wikipedia & AMG)

Salvatore "Sal" Mineo, Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976), was an American film and theatre actor, known for his performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955). He was twice nominated for the Academy

Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his roles in Rebel Without a Cause and Exodus (1960).

Born Salvatore Mineo Jr., in the Bronx part of New York City to Italian immigrants who had come from Sicily, he was thrown out of school at age 8, and quickly became a member of a street gang. After an arrest for robbery at age 10, the judge gave him an option of juvenile confinement or enrolment in a professional acting school. He chose the latter, with his first appearance in "The Rose Tattoo" (1951) on Broadway.

He soon began appearing in supporting roles in such films as "The King and I" (1952) and "Six Bridges to Cross" (1955), reaching his peak of fame with his role as Plato in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955).

In 1957, Mineo made a brief foray into pop music by recording a handful of songs and an album. He released two singles. The first was "Start Movin' (In My Direction)", which stayed in the US top 40 for 13 weeks and reached the #9 position. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The second was "Lasting Love", which stayed on the charts for three weeks and reached #27. The singles were followed up by an album on the Epic label. In the UK the records were released on the Philips label.

He starred as drummer Gene Krupa in the movie Drum Crazy(1959), directed by Don Weis with Susan Kohner, James Darren, and Susan Oliver. He donated the drum he used in the film to another teen idol, David Cassidy, the day after a dinner with David and his father, Jack Cassidy. David was 13 at the time.

Sal continued working in films and television but offers gradually declined in the '60s. He made a couple of mid-decade attempts at rekindling his music career with one-shot releases on the Decca and Fontana labels. A choice he made in 1962, to pose nude for painter Harold Stevenson, may have come across as an affront to the morals to many in the entertainment industry (hard to imagine that) and could be partly responsible for the lack of work. The high point of this period was his portrayal of Uriah in The Greatest Story

Ever Told (1965).

Expanding his repertoire, Mineo returned to the theatre to direct and star in the play "Fortune and Men's Eyes" with successful runs in both New York and Los Angeles. In the late 1960s and 1970s he continued to work steadily in supporting roles on TV and in film, including Dr. Milo in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Harry O (1973). In 1975 he returned to the stage in the San Francisco hit production of "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead".

By 1976, Mineo's career had begun to turn around. While playing the role of a burglar in a series of stage performances of the comedy, P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, in San Francisco, Mineo received substantial publicity from many positive reviews, and he moved to Los Angeles along with the play.

Mineo was arriving home after a rehearsal on February 12, 1976, when he was stabbed to death in the alley behind his apartment building near the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California.

Mineo was stabbed just once, not repeatedly as first reported, but the knife blade struck his heart, leading to immediate and fatal internal bleeding. It’s sad that he came to such an end at the age of only thirty seven. His remains were interred in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

In March 1979, pizza deliveryman Lionel Ray Williams was sentenced to 57 years in prison for killing Mineo and for ten robberies in the same area. Although considerable confusion existed as to what witnesses had seen in the darkness the night Mineo was murdered, Williams claimed to have no idea who Mineo was. Corrections officers later said they had overheard Williams admitting to the stabbing.

Although taken away far too soon, the memory of Sal Mineo continues to live on through the large body of TV and film work that he left behind. (Info edited mainly from Wikipedia & IMDB)

Mike Tinsley born 16 December 1940

Toni Iordache born 17 December 1942

Charlie Ryan born 19 December 1915

Cousin Joe born 20 December 1907

Luise King born 21 December 1913

Lillian "Lil" Green born 22 December 1919

Freddy Gardner born 23 December 1910

Lulu Belle born 24 December 1913

John Hughey born 27 December 1933

Johnny Otis born 28 December 1921

Little Joe Cook born 29 December1922

John Hartford born 30 December 1937

Odetta born 31 December 1930

Eric Winstone born 1 January 1915

Judd Proctor born 2 January 1932

Gene Summers born 3 January 1939

Carroll Gibbons born 4 January 1903

Don Rondo born 5 January 1930

Dave Sampson born 9 January 1941

Sal Mineo born 10 January 1939