Your moderator, aged eighteen,
Armidale C1965 |
| A MESSAGE FROM
THE MODERATOR |
What
motivates a person to be the moderator of a music
discussion board? That answer is simple: A love of
the music.
I cannot
remember a time when I did not love music. My
parents and siblings had their favourites and
whilst growing up, music was played in our house all
the time. So in hindsight, I did not have a choice.
Born in
1947 this allowed me the good fortune to be brought
up in the era of ‘true’ rock ‘n’ roll. This term
(rock ‘n’ roll) is widely accepted by purists to
have changed once Elvis went into the Army and we
were then introduced to ‘Pop’ music. This consisted
of the Johnny’s, Bobby’s and Frankie’s and many
others.
Although
I am known in some circles as a historian on music
from the 50’s and in particular the music that
emanated from Clovis, New Mexico (e.g. Buddy
Holly and The Crickets and I have written four books
on the subject) please remember, I was only
eleven years of age when Holly died in early
1959 so it was not long before I was starting to
love the music for the next decade (60’s).
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Music from all corners of the
globe of course but I especially enjoyed and still
cherish the Australian artists from this era. The
Easybeats, Throb, Ray Brown & The Whispers, The Bee
Gees, The Seekers, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Ray Hoff &
The Offbeats, Normie Rowe & The Playboys, The Masters
Apprentices, The Atlantics, The Groop, Digger Revell &
The Denvermen, Lonnie Lee & The Leemen, Col Joye & The
Joyboys, Johnny Devlin & The Devils (NZ), Ray Columbus &
The Invaders (NZ) and many more. It was a rich time for
Australian and New Zealand acts and the European
countries recognised this and still to this day, it is
difficult to keep up with the demand from these many
countries for original recordings of these artists. They
called it ‘Beat Music’ a term I am reliably informed
emanates from the Beatles?
I would like to share some totally useless information
with you regarding Lonnie Lee and Johnny O’Keefe. Both
singers recorded a popular song ‘Yes Indeed I do’ and if
you listen carefully to both tracks, you will find they
used the same backing for their version. They both
recorded for Leedon Records at the time. This label’s
name of course, is derived from the wonderful promoter
Lee Gordon who brought over 200 artists to Australia
during the 50’s and 60’s.
It was during this period (1963 – 1967) at ‘Surf City’
in Kings Cross (a suburb of Sydney), I saw three boys
performing on a show with two of the above artists
(Brown and Thorpe) and was introduced to the brothers,
then named Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees. I was mesmerised
by their harmony then and still am to this day.
Although born in England, I claim The Bee Gees to be
Australian artists because this is where they learned
their craft. For nearly eleven years they performed at
venues of all kinds. Plus, they made many appearances on
TV, honing their skills and writing their own songs with
many being recorded by local artists. Some of these 45
singles are now very valuable 45’s.
They recorded 11 singles, two EP’s and three LP’s whilst
here with many tracks ‘still in the can’ so to speak. A
few of us now have the majority of these unreleased
tracks but I am aware there are still more. Therefore,
with the above history it is fair we do claim them for
our own. In fact, their older sister (Lesley) still
lives here with her Australian husband and family and
the boys were regularly coming back to catch up with her
and many of their musical friends.
Their many recordings whilst in Australia are HIGHLY
sought after worldwide and I just love their Australian
recordings. Their first EP simply titled ‘The Bee Gees
(Leedon LX-10747) recently sold for over $4,000 on EBay.
It is so hard to find. Additionally, their first LP here
“The Bee Gees Sing Fourteen Barry Gibb Songs” and also
released on the Leedon label, is very difficult to find.
Many collectors are still looking for it.
Regarding The Easybeats, I was privileged or just damn
lucky to be in the crowd at their very first public
appearance in Sydney at ‘Beatle Village’ in Taylor
Square, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, a suburb of Sydney.
This was in late 1964 or early ’65 if my recollection is
correct. I really cannot remember the songs they sang
but even then they were writing their own music.
As well as the Australian acts, I enjoyed the majority
of artists from the UK and US and am an unabashed fan of
The Rolling Stones and Hollies. Two groups so varied in
style and substance. I stopped collecting the Stones
music after their fifth or sixth album as they altered
their musical direction and I was not particularly fond
of it.
However, I classify the LP ‘Aftermath’ as one of the
most perfect LP’s ever recorded. That is just a personal
opinion folks.
I did not ‘desert’ the Hollies and the near perfect
harmonies, as I believe they are still the same today as
they were 45 years ago. I have met Graham Nash a few
times now and he is a nice bloke. Just briefly back to
The Stones, I was, in particular, a big fan of the
guitar style of Brian Jones, the co-founder and original
guitarist with the group. I call him the forgotten man
of music. He played both harmony and lead guitar.
Additionally, I enjoy the music of Cliff Richard & The
Shadows or ‘Shads’ as we call them. To me, the greatest
instrumental band ever. Also the Searchers, Animals,
Kinks, Troggs, The wonderful Yardbirds, Them, The
Swinging Blue Jeans, Moody Blues, Spencer Davis Group
and many more.
You may have noticed I have not included The Beatles. I
did not mind a couple of their songs such as ‘It Won’t
Be Long and Something’ and other tracks from their first
two albums but then I lost interest. Again, just a
personal choice. However, please feel free to discuss
them, as I would like this board to cover all artists.
Regarding American artists? Well, to me, the first has
to be Del Shannon, the man I call ‘the writer of mini
operas’. I even put him on the same level as Holly.
People somehow relate Shannon to the 50’s but his first
monster hit ‘Runaway’ was issued in the early 60’s. If
you are like me and have heard the original version of
this song it is much slower then the one we know. The
producers decided to ‘speed it up’ as Del was singing
flat and it was the only way they could achieve their
objective. Unfortunately, Del was a tortured soul.
Another big favourite is Roy Orbison. He was like
Shannon in that for some reason he is put into the 50’s
category of singers. Again, this is incorrect. His
breakout hit was ‘Only The Lonely’ and that was issued
in the middle of 1960. I never grow tired of listening
to his music.
Plus, of course we cannot forget Elvis. Although he
commenced his musical career in the 50’s, he had many
number one hits in the 60’s as well.
Additional artists are The Beach Boys, The Byrd’s, CCR,
Bob Dylan, Bobby Fuller Four and again, many more. I
have always said that John Fogarty from CCR was born
10-15 years too late because, to me, he has a great
‘true’ rock ‘n’ roll voice.
Finally, I have always loved instrumentals. Music from
the 1950’s to the late 1960’s when they started to fade
away. Groups like the Shadows, Ventures, Sandy Nelson,
Tornados, Chantays, Santo & Johnny, The Joyboys,
Invaders (NZ), Fireballs, String-A-Longs and many more.
However, it was an Australian group ‘The Atlantics’ who
I believe recorded the greatest instrumental ever. The
song was called ‘Bombora’ and it is a feverish song from
the surfing era.
If you were fortunate enough like me to have seen the
Atlantics live, they will blow you away with their
superb technique, style and sound.
Please remember folks, these are just personal opinions
and choices and you may not agree with them and that is
certainly your right. However, this is what this board
is all about: Choices.
Please feel free to contribute in anyway you believe you
can.
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