Our Monthly Club Meeting will be this Sunday, April 9th at the Homewood Public Library. The Meeting will start at 2:00 PM. Be sure to bring 45’s, LP’s and CD’s to the meeting to sale or trade. We hope everyone will find some great 45’s, LP’s and/or CD’s to take home. See all of you Sunday. Come and eat lunch with your friends at the BRC Club Meeting. Call another music lover and bring them with you to this meeting. They may just find that long lost music treasure they have been looking for all these years.

MAY CLUB MEETING WILL BE MAY 21ST, THE 3RD SUNDAY

When was the last time you heard Pretty Little Mama by Joe HintonShe Went A’ Walking by or Bo Diddley or Itchy Twitchy Feeling by Bobby Hendrix on your radio? I heard them last week and this week and today. All you have to do is go to the Birmingham Record Collectors website and tune in to the Heart And Soul of Rock n Roll on BRC radio. There are 11 shows downloaded presently with more to come. Now for some exciting news: Ben has produced a 6 CD set of all the shows and will have some at the club meeting this Sunday. If you would like a copy of all these shows on CD so that you can listen to them in your car or wherever you want to take them, contact Ben so he will be sure to have enough. Don’t be left out. For just $5 per CD, a total cost of $30 for the set, you can have 7 hours of all the great music you can’t find on the radio.

Our annual record and cd show is just 4 months away. Many things are being done by members to make sure the show is another success. Advertising the show through air waves and the print media, food donations, food preparation and selling, door workers and dealer contacts are just some of the areas where help is needed. Volunteer to help. Members you can contact and ask what you can do are Ray Edwards, Tom Spitzley, Terrell Lindsey, David Bryan, Ben Saxon, Jack Wilson, Paul Ozburn and Charlie Bailey. There are plenty of chores for all to do. Pitch in.

Interested in a road trip? There are some preliminary plans being developed for a Saturday trip to Nashville, TN this spring or early summer. There are some music stores there you would probably be interested in going to and search for that 45, lp, song or cd you have been looking for. A stop at a record company to watch the process of pressing records was included but is up in the air at this time. Ray Edwards is working on this part of the trip and would like to know how many would be interested in going. Whether or not this works out may depend on the number we have going. Let us know if you would like to go. A date has not been set as of yet.

When did rock & roll music begin? Who recorded the first rock & roll record and what was it? Who is the grandfather of rock & roll? If you asked 10 “experts” you would probably get 10 different answers. But there are facts and events about the development of rock and roll that can be dated. Let me give a few of these facts and dates over the next few months and maybe you will have that answer to that trivia question. For a more in-depth look at rock & roll history and music try these sites. For possible influential songs that go back into the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s go to First Rock and Roll Record [wikipedia.org]. For songs that have influenced rock & roll over the years try Permanent Collection [rockhall.com].

I’ll start by mentioning some of the names of the 1940’s music scene. Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, The Mills Brothers, Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Diana Shore, Frankie Lane, The Ink Spots, Doris Day and Buddy Clark. But events were happening that would bring a change in the names we would recognize into the 1950’s.

In 1945 the musical careers of Ruth Brown, Sarah Vaughan and Jimmy Reed would begin. 1946 brought us Dean Martin, B. B. King, Lightin’ Hopkins, Chet Atkins and in a group called the Down Homers we meet for the first time Bill Haley. George Jones, Jimmy Rogers and The Weavers first appeared in 1947. Along with Otis Rush getting his start in 1948, Columbia Records introduced the 33 1/3 rpm LP record. Twenty five minutes of music on each side rather than the 4 minutes that the 78 rpm provided. In 1949, Coral Records becomes a subsidiary of Decca, the 45 rpm is introduced, Fats Domino had his first hit titled “The Fat Man” and Johnnie Ray performed at the Flame Show Bar in Detroit where he was the only white performer. Johnnie was influenced heavily by Kay Starr, LaVern Baker and Ivory Joe Hunter. He was often mistaken for a black artist when his records were first played on the radio. Things are beginning to happen during the early post-WWII years that will influence the next decade of music, the 1950’s. I’ll close this portion of musical facts and dates by leaving you with one event of 1950. On January 3, 1950 Sam Phillips, a graduate of Coffee High School in Florence, AL, opened the doors of the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis Tennessee. Next month: The Early 50’s. It should get interesting.

Bring those extra records and cd’s you have to this month’s meeting to sell or swap. Someone may be looking for what you have in that box in the closet or basement. Due to Mother’s Day, please note that next month’s meeting will be on the 3rd Sunday, May 21st.

See Ya,

Charlie