Our Monthly Club Meeting will be this Sunday,
October 14th at the Homewood Public Library.
2:00 PM
RECORDS & CD’S-----MUSIC------FOOD------FRIENDSHIP
GOOD TIMES-----GUEST SPEAKERS----
MEMBER PRESENTATIONS

*****NEXT CLUB MEETING WILL BE NOVEMBER 11th. THE 2ND SUNDAY*******

Hope you will be able to attend this month’s meeting. Club member, Henry Lovoy will be in attendance introducing and previewing for us his latest CD, DON’T LOOK BACK. There are 14 songs covering bluegrass, country, soul and black gospel. There will be copies at the meeting for sale. $5 for club members.
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Answer’s to last month’s trivia quiz

1. Who recorded a take-off of the song I mentioned above that my dad would wake me up with on the first day of school? I’m thinking of a Phillips International recording. Charlie Rich
2. Who is Johnny of Johnny & The Jammers? Johnny Winter
3. How many versions were released of Tommy Facenda’s “High School U.S.A.”? These are the versions that covered different areas of the country. 30
4. What band did Facenda record and tour with in 1957 & ’58 before going solo? Gene Vincent & Blue Caps
5. Who did Lulu sing her hit song to in the movie, “To Sir With Love”? Sidney Poitier
6. In “Be True To Your School”, on his letterman’s sweater he has a letter for what 2 sports? Football & Track
7. The part of school that was the best, at least we thought so then, was graduation. If you lived in the B’ham area during the 60’s there was a song played for all the seniors during graduation time. Name the song and the artist of this song. “Cap & Gown” by Marty Robbins
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MUSIC THEME FOR OCTOBER: GHOSTS, GHOULS & THE UNEXPLAINED

If asked what ghost & ghoul song comes to mind, most people might say Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash”. Being a # 1 song, it probably is better known than others. But there are others. The first “other one” that came to my mind was “Jumpin’” Gene Simmons recording of “Haunted House”. This song was done originally in 1958 by Johnny Fuller. David Seville had a hit in 1958 with “Witch Doctor”. Let’s all say it together now, “Oo ee, oo ah ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang”. He later re-recorded this song featuring Alvin & The Chipmunks. Sheb Wooley sang about “The Purple People Eater”, also in 1958. Now I have to ask, was this alien purple and a people eater or was he an alien that ate purple people? The Big Bopper did his part by recording “The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor”. I guess we should have seen that one coming. Going back to Bobby Pickett, after the popularity of “Monster Mash”, he recorded “Monster’s Holiday”. It came out 1962 also and reached # 30 on the charts. Bo Diddley recorded a fun record with his “Bo Meets The Monster”. Always good guitar no matter what type song Bo did. A lot of these songs were fun little cutesy songs, but Screaming Jay Hawkins did a wild song entitled “I Put A Spell On You”. Hawkins also recorded “Little Demon”. And don’t forget Johnny Rivers’, “Seventh Son”…..”Look at the skies and predict the rain. I can tell when a woman’s got another man.” Johnny may have had the hit but Willie Dixon wrote the words. While these type songs garnered most attention in the 50’s & early 60’s, this type music continued into the 70’s with Warren Zevon’s recording of “Werewolves Of London”. In 1974, Five Man Electrical Band recorded “Werewolf”. This theme carried on even into the 80’s with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. And rockabilly wasn’t left out either. Jackie Morningstar did a rockin’ song with his “Rockin’ In The Graveyard”. Speaking of graveyards, Dickey Lee had a little scary experience in his song, “Laurie (Strange Things Happen)”. Another song dealing with graveyard scenes is “Midnight Stroll” by the Revels. Originally released as “Dead Man’s Stroll”, it sang about a corpse strolling down the street or as the lyrics say….”A poor soul doing the Dead Man’s Stroll.” Remember there was a popular dance at the time called the stroll. There are a few songs that bring to mind strange or scary movies. Remember “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” from the movie of the same title? I saw it at a drive-in and then afterwards went with a group to Bass Cemetery for kicks. The song, as pretty as it is, conjures up some kinda memories. Steve McQueen starred in “The Blob” for which the song, “The Blob” was recorded by The Five Blobs. That was a sticky sentence. CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising” was used in the movie, “An American Werewolf In London”. If you watch this movie any time soon, note that all songs used in the movie have the word “moon” in their titles. Ray Parker did the theme song “Ghostbusters” for Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd’s movie of the same title. There were many instrumentals with titles that covered the genre also. Duane Eddy’s version of “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” and Bill Doggett’s “Monster Party” were just a couple. And then another was the ‘70’s song, “Frankenstein” by Edgar Winter. This song was on an LP entitled “They Only Come Out At Night”. And I don’t want to leave out you fans of comedy songs. Alan Sherman (remember “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”?) released “My Son, The Vampire” and Phil Harris had a #1 hit in 1950 with “The Thing". A strange topic to sing about but it provided many songs we all grew up with and many we never heard.

Trivia questions:

1. What combo was “Jumpin’” Gene Simmons the singer for in the early 60’s?
2. What was used to create the sound of the coffin being opened in the song, “Monster Mash”?
3. Who wrote the song, “The Blob”?
4. Speaking of “The Blob”, The Five Blobs, who recorded the song, was really made up of how many people? (clue: it wasn’t 5)
5. “Monster Mash”, a #1 hit in the states, didn’t hit the charts in the UK until 1973. Why did it take so long for it to do so?
6. From the songs mentioned in the above opening, how many of them reached # 1?
7. Of these # 1 songs, which one has reportedly sold over 100 million copies?
8. Sheb Wooley was seen in what TV western series which ran from 1959-1965?
9. What movie did he portray a principal?
10. Sheb also recorded under another name. Who?
11. What was in the box Phil Harris sang about in “The Thing”?

ENJOY THESE FROM YOUTUBE:

The Blob by The Five Blobs from the movie The Blob
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZpBO2fMCnfM

Bobby “Boris” Pickett 2006 concert
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FgJEEkWNA-U

Haunted House – Fuller & Simmons versions
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ld6fWWv0m8Y

Warren Zevon
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nhSc8qVMjKM

It’s not Jackie Morningstar but you’ll get the idea
http://youtube.com/watch?v=eskFOoq3LlQ

Bobby “Boris” Pickett did quite a few songs dealing with this topic. Check out these titles from a 1991 CD.

Blood Bank Blues
Graveyard Shift
Monster Minuet
Transylvania Twist
Me And My Mummy
Monster Motion
Irresistible Igor

To hear a sample of these and more from the CD go to
http://www.amazon.com/Original-Monster-Bobby-Pickett-Crypt-Kickers/dp/B0...
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Here’s this month’s “on the road” memory from Jerry Grammer

All That Glitters

Many Willie Nelson Fans do not know this story! Even with Willie’s age and talent he was struggling to make it in show business. A terrific talent, both in writing and performing! He once sold a song for $50.00 to pay his expenses. Then offering Faron Young, “Hello Walls”, for $500.00. Faron loaned him the money instead and they both made $$$, however, a little known fact was; a young singer by the name of Jimmy Elledge, recorded Willies song, “Funny How Time Slips Away”, selling over a million copies. This got Willie started. Willie is still known and Jimmy has almost been forgotten. This is where I step in.

I played drums with Jimmy, on numerous occasions, before the song actually made it high on the charts. He was a wonderful talent but was most effeminate! I had never met anyone that put glitter in their hair and on their face (except women)! I still managed to do the shows! A most unforgettable trip!

I did a few jobs with him after getting back south, but he went his way and I went mine. I heard that he was in New Orleans and still performing but has not had another hit. I wish him a lot of luck. This is a terrible waste of talent.

I did three nights with Faron Young at The New Carousel Ballroom on Dauphin Island Parkway, Mobile. This was a few years later. We discussed all this on breaks (In His Tour Bus).

I reworked a magazine article, of interest, to complete this story! Read on.

Country singer Faron Young helped jumpstart the gestating careers of Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and other country performers--committed suicide in Nashville, Tennessee. The 64-year-old performer had been suffering from emphysema and was recovering from recent prostate surgery. He left a suicide note saying he was depressed about his declining health. The note was found next to his body-still alive at that point- by a former band member at his home.

Probably Faron’s greatest legacy was his dedication to helping advance the careers of younger performers. He recorded early songs by Willie Nelson, Don Gibson and Bill Anderson. Kristofferson earned rent money working as a laborer for him while trying to hawk his own songs. Faron hired the likes of Roger Miller and Johnny Paycheck to play in his band before they went on to big solo success.

The Shreveport, Louisiana native got his start on a radio show, Louisiana Hayride, featuring acts like Elvis Presley, Hoyt Johnson and many others that gained fame! He was influenced by Hank Williams. Faron scored his first hit in 1953 with "Going' Steady," which climbed to number two on the country charts. An occasional actor, He was nicknamed the Singing Sheriff, after starring in Hidden Guns. He also appeared in Daniel Boone. He founded and later sold the country music fan magazine Music City News.
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UPCOMING CONCERTS

ORIGINAL BLUES BROTHERS BAND. OCT 19. 8:00 PM
ALYS STEPHENS CENTER. B’HAM. 1200 10th AVE SOUTH. TICKETS $25 - $108. 205-975-2787.

RECORD SHOW

GOING TO NEW YORK NOV 2 - 4? YOU MIGHT WANT TO
CHECK OUT THIS. http://www.wfmu.org/recfair

See Ya,

Charlie