BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
THIS MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE THE SECOND SUNDAY, MARCH 8TH 2:00 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
NEXT MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE HELD THE SECOND SUNDAY, APRIL 12TH AT 2:00 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
Last month we heard some great sounds played by BRC member Jack. Most of the ones he played were charted songs and they all brought back some fun memories and some members had stories they shared concerning those songs. Thanks, Jack!
This month is going to be a fun meeting with a random mixture of different things. From little known song facts to legal issues in the music business, great flips of hit 45’s, music in movies, ‘we did it first’ and more. Hope you can drop by and join us.
At our April meeting will will be having one of our BRC Music Hall Of Fame members join us and share his career in the music business. Bunky Anderson, band member, record producer, concert promoter and much more has played for, met and been friends with some of the music greats and I know you will want to hear what he has to share. Be there or be square!
THE KING OF STROLL – HIS SHORT SUCCESSFUL CAREER AND HIS LEGACY
Lately I have been listening to some of my LP’s that I haven’t had out for a while. One was the LP, Foghat (Rock & Roll) by Foghat. One of the songs was a cover of ‘I Feel So Bad’. Now, who do you think of when you see that title? Probably Elvis Presley. He did a cover version in 1961 that went to #5 on the pop chart and #15 on the R&B chart. I researched that song and found that the writer is a guy who recorded some of my favorite songs and wrote so many songs yet he isn’t remembered as a writer and in most cases, not remembered at all. Chuck Willis had 5 pop hits and 14 R&B hits from 1952-58. He wrote and recorded ‘I Feel So Bad’ taking it to #8 on the R&B chart in 1954. Just when he had songs crossing over to the pop charts he unfortunately died of peritonitis at age 32. I thought I would review his songwriting and singer career and make sure everyone knows about him.
After being discovered at a talent contest in 1951 he was signed by Columbia records and had songs released on a Columbia subsidiary, Okeh Records. During this time he had 5 R&B hits on that label including ‘My Story’, ‘Goin’ To The River’, ‘Don’t Deceive Me (Please Don’t Go)’, ‘You’re Still My Baby’ as well as ‘I Feel So Bad’. All made the R&B Top 10. During this time he would write one of Ruth Brown’s #1 R&B hits, ‘Oh What Dream’. By the way, Conway Twitty released a version of the song and it bubbled under the Top 100 on the pop chart.
In 1956 Chuck moved to Atlantic Records, which is the label Ruth Brown recorded for and he immediately hit the R&B Top 10 again with ‘It’s Too Late’. In 1956 on Atlantic he would have other R&B hits, ‘Juanita’ and the flip side, ‘Whatcha’ Gonna Do When Your Baby Leaves’ both making the Top 10. His next hit, “C. C. Rider’ went to #1 on the R&B chart and also crossed over to the pop chart going to #12. ‘C. C. Rider’, also known as ‘See See Rider’ was a traditional song first recorded by Ma Rainey in 1924. It was thought to have come out of the vaudeville circuit and has been reported as being sang and played early as 1901 by many singers and bands. Chuck’s version is also in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Willis became known as the “King of the Stroll” because of this 1957 hit. “C.C. Rider” was the perfect tempo for “The Stroll,” a line dance that became popular on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. The Diamonds would have a #4 pop hit later that year with the song, ‘The Stroll’. It would go to #5 on the R&B chart.
Now being known in both the R&B and Pop audiences he continued with hits most being his own compositions. But he would only have one more charted hit being his death. In February his song ‘Betty And Dupree’ hit the charts and then he died in April just two months later. But his songs continued to make the charts. His second #1 R&B hit and his first and only Top 10 pop hit was ‘What Am I Living For’. Kinda eery that a song with that title would be the first song charted after his death. The flip side, ‘Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes’ went to #9 on the R&B chart and #24 on the pop chart. He would have one more pop hit and two more R&B hits. ‘My Life’ would go to #12 on the R&B chart and #46 on the pop chart. The last song after his death that charted on the R&B chart but did not make the pop charts is probably my favorite. ‘Keep-A-Drivin” is one of the best but forgotten or unknown ‘car songs’. It is one of those songs, along with many of Chuck’s recordings that you want to roll your window down and go to a drive-in restaurant such as Shoney’s, The Varsity or if you were in the Birmingham area, Monks and make sure everyone hears it. When I started collecting records it was one that I was so glad I found.
I have mentioned all his pop and R&B hits but there are some songs that need to be mentioned that other people had hits with that Chuck wrote. Already I have mentioned Ruth Brown’s recording of his ‘Oh What A Dream’ but did you know he also wrote ‘Close Your Eyes’ which would be a #5 R&B hit for The Five Keys in 1955 and a Top 10 hit on both pop & R&B for Peaches and Herb in 1967. Here’s one that might really surprise you. He wrote ‘The Door Is Still Open’ which became a #4 R&B hit in 1955 for The Cardinals and yes it is the same song that Dean Martin had a #6 pop hit with in 1964. Dean’s 45 showed the title as ‘The Door Is Still Open To My Heart’. The Clovers, one of the smoothest sounding groups back in the day recorded Willis’ ‘From The Bottom Of My Heart’. It did not chart but was released in 1956 as a 45. The Cadillacs recorded Willis’ ‘Sugar, Sugar’. It also did not chart but was released as a 45 in 1957.
Many of his songs have been covered by some of the greats in R&B and rock. ‘Don’t Deceive Me (Please Don’t Go) was recorded by Ruth Brown, Little Richard, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, James Brown and Delaney & Bonnie. ‘Its Too Late’ was covered by Otis Redding, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Ted Taylor, Freddie King, The Jerry Garcia Band and Derek & The Dominos. That version is a fantastic LP cut from their album Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs. The Band covered ‘Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes’ on their 1972 live LP Rock Of Ages.
Going back to where I began with his song ‘I Feel So Bad’, I have always thought the opening line was one of the great lines in music: ‘I feel so bad, fell like a ballgame on a rainy day’. Maybe it is because I am a sports fan but the line just suits how a person can feel about a game you have been looking forward to being rained out: So Bad. And later he writes about should he stay or leave and finishes by saying, ‘Yes I’ve got my train fare. Pack my grip and ride away’. I also find his using the term ‘grip’ an insteresting choice of words. It was used when speaking bout a small suitcase or it can be the stuff you have. I guess it’s just me. Known for wearing a turban on stage—a gimmick suggested by his friend Screamin’ Jay Hawkins—Willis was also called the “Sheik of Shake”. His death came way too early and brought to an abrupt end a successful and promising career. Thank goodness Chuck had quite a few songs recorded that were ready for release. And like so many of the early pioneers in rock & roll, Chuck has not been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. He has been nominated six times but to no avail. At a basketball coaches conference I heard Hubie Brown, one of the great basketball coaches of all time who was coaching the Atlanta Hawks at the time complaining about a call he disagreed with and got angrier and angrier as he talked about it and ended his rant by yelling at the end, ‘And that’s why the NBA stinks’. With performers like Chuck Willis and many more who had such an impact on early rock & roll, soul and R&B not being in the R&R HOF I will end by saying: That is why the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame stinks!
Click title to listen
‘I Feel So Bad’– Chuck Willis
‘Keep A-Driving’– Chuck Willis
‘Oh What A Dream’– Ruth Brown
‘The Door Is Still Open’– The Cardinals
SAD ANNOUNCEMENT
BRC Music Hall Of Fame member Roscoe Robinson passed away last Thursday. Roscoe lived in the Birmingham area and made a few visits with the club over the years at our show and club meetings. He was 97. For a complete bio you can go to our website at http://www.birminghamrecord.com/brc/hall_of_fame/roscoe-robinson/
Last Friday Travis Wammack passed away. Travis was in the 2011 class of the BRC Music Hsall Of Fame. World-renowned guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and session player in both Memphis and Muscle shoals, Travis started performing at age 9 and never stopped. I once asked Travis after watching him perform at a catfish restaruant in Russelville Alabama, why Alabama? He could be in L. A., New York, Chicago, London, Paris or anywhere on the world, why here. He just said, ‘This is home.’ Travis was 81. For a complete bio click here: http://www.birminghamrecord.com/brc/hall_of_fame/travis-wammack/
BRC RADIO
And don’t forget that BRC radio is still on the BRC website. Our 3 hosts play all kinds of music including hit songs from the 1950’s – present. You will hear LP cuts, charted songs and songs that received little or no air-play, and all genres. Just go the birminghamrecord.com and click on the ‘RADIO’ icon and chose a show.
3-1-26 The Vinyl Experience With Tom Faison
See ya,
Charlie