Glen Glenn RIP

Glen Glenn, one of the last of the original fifties rockabilly artists, has passed on at the age of 87. Originally from Missouri, Glen moved to California where he performed as a duo with guitarist Gary Lambert and toured with the Maddox Brothers and Porter Wagoner. His breakthroughh came in early 1958 with 'Everybody's Movin', a song which has become something of a rockabilly classic and covered by the Stray Cats and Hank C Burnette, among others. Other recordings for the Era label included 'One Cup of Coffee', 'Would You' and 'Laurie Ann', with 'Goofin' Around' being released on the new Dore label shortly afterwards. Glen's career was interrupted by army service and a final recording, 'I'll Never Stop Loving You' under the name of Glenn Trout, proved to be his last. Following the rockabilly revival Glen appeared at many festivals, including Hemsby, but I never got to see him perform live. The first ever Ace LP 'Hollywood Rock 'n' Roll' included six Glen Glenn tracks and there was a later Ace album dedicated to his work which featured 13 tracks.

Other recent music deaths include that of songwriter Bobby Weinstein, aged 82, who wrote or co-wrote (with Teddy Randazzo) such hits as 'Pretty Blue Eyes' for Steve Lawrence, 'Goin' Out Of My Head' and 'I'm On the Outside Looking In' for Little Anthony and the Imperials and 'It's Gonna Take A Miracle' for the Royalettes. Bobby sang with Teddy Randazzo's revue band and later became president of the National Academy of Popular Music. Other recent deaths include Los Angeles jazz and blues singer Barbara Morrison. Also Chicago disc jockey Purvis Spann, whose was hired for radio station WVON by Leonard Chess and whose career stretched over 60 years. The Vinyl Word raises a glass to them all.

My top tens - 1979

As regular readers of The Vinyl Word may know, I made lists of my favourite top ten records of the day between Spring 1960 and December 1965. I still have them and it shows how my tastes developed between the ages of 14 and 19 and the rise of genres such as girl groups, R and B and soul. The top scoring artist through this near six year period was Sam Cooke, with other big scorers being Roy Orbision, Dion, The Everly Brothers, Del Shannon, Elvis, the Crystals, the Shirelles, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. What is missing from these personal top tens are records by British beat groups, showing my disdain for second rate cover versions. Even the Beatles are missing, apart from one chart entry ('Love Me Do') at number ten for one week in October, 1962. After 1965 my interest in soul music in particular continued and I started receiving 45s from the major record companies for review on the Croydon Advertiser where I was working. But my personal top tens ceased as other activities took over my time. In the seventies I lost interest in pop music until punk and new wave came along to bring some excitement - for a few years at least. Looking through an old diary the other day I discovered that my personal top ten resurfaced briefly during the summer of 1979, with three entries in July and August. These lists show that my tastes had changed, although not necessarily for the better. Still, there were some decent records among those chosen at the time, including one by the Undertones (probably my favourite group of the time) which is included on their first LP (above). My first 1979 personal top ten - on July 23 - was as follows: 1. 'Beat The Clock' - Sparks; 2. 'I Don't Like Mondays' - Boomtown Rats; 3. 'Can't Stand Losing You' - Police; 4. 'Say When' - Lene Lovich; 5. 'Say it Ain't So Joe' - Gary Brooker; 6. 'Here Comes The Summer' - Undertones; 7. 'Living On The Front Line' - Eddy Grant; 8. 'Bang Bang' - B A Robertson; 9. 'Let's Go' - the Cars; 10= - 'My Sharona' - The Knack; 'Go West' - Village People. The second list was written only a few days later, on July 28 and there weren't many changes, but new entries were 'Harmony In My Head - Buzzcocks at number 6, and 'Lady Lynda' - the Beach Boys at number 8. My final top ten, so far as I know anyway, was on August 26, 1979. This comprised 1. 'Street Life' - Crusaders; 2. 'Rock Lobster' - B52s; 3. 'Beat The Clock' - Sparks; 4. 'Gangsters' - Specials; 5. 'Reasons To Be Cheerful' - Ian Dury; 6. 'Bang Bang' - B A Robertson; 7. 'I Don't Like Mondays' - Boomtown Rats'; 8. 'Hersham Boys' - Sham 69; 9. 'Here Comes The Summer' - Undertones; 10. 'Gone Gone Gone' - Johnny Mathis. Not all of those listed have stood the test of time but it's a snap shot of what I liked back in the day.

Timmy Thomas RIP

Another soul man has passed on, this time Timmy Thomas at the age of 77. Timmy is best known for his 1972 hit 'Why Can't We Live Together', but his recording career started some eight years earlier at Goldwax in Memphis. He was a member of Philip and the Faithfuls who recorded 'Love Me'. A couple more previously unreleased tracks by the group were included on the Kent Goldwax Northern Soul CD - 'What'cha Gonna Do' and 'If You Love Her'. Timmy also recorded some solo tracks for Goldwax, including 'Have Some Boogaloo' and 'It's My Life', and one for the Climax label, 'What's Bothering Me'. Relocating to Miami he signed for the Glades label and recorded his big hit and a series of follow ups including 'People Are Changing', 'Let Me Be Your Eyes', 'What Can I Tell Her', 'Sexy Woman' and 'Love Shine'. He also recorded a duet with Betty Wright and released several albums, including 'Why Can't We Live Together', 'You're The Song I've Always Wanted to Sing' and 'The Magician'. He worked as a producer with TK Records and released 'Gotta Give A Little Love (Ten Years After)' for Gold Mountain Records.

Latest music deaths

It's been a while since I paid tribute to musicians who have died but, inevitably, there have been quite a few. Richard Pratt was a member of Blue Magic, a Philadelphia based soul group, who enjoyed a number of hits in the early seventies produced by Norman Harris. They had success in the R and B charts with 'Spell', 'Look Me Up' and 'Stop To Start' but their biggest success came with 'Sideshow' and 'Three Ring Circus'. They continued to record during the seventies but their ballad style eventually lost out to the disco sound.

Joni James, who has died at the age of 91, was a singer of pop ballads who had the distinction of being the first American artist to record at the Abbey Road studio where she made five albums. Her first hit, for MGM, was 'Why Don't You Believe Me' in 1953 and others included 'Have You Heard', 'Your Cheating Heart', 'Almost Always', 'You Are My Love' and 'I Need You Now'. Her last significant hit was 'My Last Date (With You)', a vocal version of the Floyd Cramer hit.

The death of Gary Brooker last month attracted quite a bit of coverage, not surprisingly given his early success with the Paramounts, the global hit 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' with Procul Harum and later work with Eric Clapton and George Harrison among others. Gary grew up in Southend on Sea and formed the Paramounts with his friend Robin Trower in 1962. They had some success with covers of 'Poison Ivy', 'Little Bitty Pretty One, 'I'm The One Who Loves You' and 'Bad Blood'. After forming Procul Harum in 1966 Gary hit the jackpot with 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' but many years later the song's authorship was challenged in court by organist Matthew Fisher who played the distinctive intro. Fisher eventually won a partial victory after a hard fought legal battle. Other Procul Harum hits included 'Homburg', 'Quite Rightly So and 'A Salty Dog'.

There are a few other deaths to catch up on. Blues guitarist Milton Hopkins, cousin of Sam 'Lightning' Hopkins, who has died at the age of 88, played with the Upsetters and was band leader for B B King and others. He played on recording sessions for Duke/Peacock in the early fifties and was on stage in Houston on Christmas Day, 1954, the day that Johnny Ace tragically died allegedly playing Russian Roulette. Another blues and jazz artist to have died is Ernie Andrews at the age of 94. Ernie's career as a singer began in the forties when he had a hit with 'Soothe Me'. He performed with the Harry James band, Kenny Burrell and Cannonball Adderley among others and became a leading musical figure on Central Avenue in Los Angeles. Another death is that of singer and guitarist Don Craine, who was a founder member of the Downliners Sect who were one of the better English beat groups of the sixties and whose recordings included 'Baby What's Wrong', 'Little Egypt', 'Wreck of the Old 97' and 'Bad Storm Coming'.

In search of Spouge and Jackie Opel

I was interested to read in the Guardian the other day about spouge music and the role of Barbadian singer Jackie Opel in creating this form of music back in the sixties. Spouge was a cross between Jamaican ska and Trinidadian soca and has a funky rhythm, featuring cowbells, guitars and drums. It was very popular in Barbados and some other West Indian islands for a few years but then faded away. But the music of Jackie Opel lives on, especially the brilliant soul and ska records he made before his tragic death in a road accident in 1970. Sadly though he is now largely forgotten, despite having a superb six octave voice and a stage act likened to Jackie Wilson. Jackie's incredibly soulful voice can be heard to good effect on the 'Cry Me A River' album (not the Julie London song) released on Studio One, which I picked up at a car boot sale a few years ago. Stand out tracks (as well as the title track) include James Brown's 'Try Me', 'I Am Free', (a version of Chuck Jackson's 'Any Day Now') and 'Shelter The Storm'.

Jackie was born in Barbados and was discovered by Byron Lee in the early sixties, who took him to Jamaica to join his Dragonaires. Soon after he joined the Skatalites as a singer and also played bass when Lloyd Brevett wasn't available. The band at that time included saxophonist Roland Alphonso and trumpet player Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore. He recorded self penned ska and soul numbers for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label including 'You're No Good', 'Pity The Fool', 'Cry Me A River', 'Old Rockin' Chair' and 'More Wood In The Fire' and also duets with Doreen Shaffer and Hortense Ellis. He recorded with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer and also the Mighty Vikings when the Skatalites broke up. At the height of his success he moved to Trinidad and eventually back to Barbados where he died aged just 32. Listening to the Jackie Opel records that I have there are hints of spouge here and there, but nothing that definitively represents the genre, despite the claim that it was Jackie's invention. So, much as I admire and love Jackie's work, I remain in search of original spouge by the great man. Any suggestions?