Chan Romero RIP

Chan Romero, who has reportedly died aged 82, had his moment of fame in 1959 when he recorded one of the great Latino rockers of all time 'The Hippy Hippy Shake'. The record became something of a Latino rock and roll anthem. It was of course covered in rather limp fashion by the Swinging Blue Jeans, but this was merely a poor shadow of Chan's original. Chan came from Montana and was inspired by seeing Elvis perform 'Hound Dog' on the Steve Allen Show. He tried to interest Specialty records in his song 'My Little Ruby' (later the follow up to his big hit) but it was Bob Keane's Del-Fi label that signed him after he sent a demo of his 'Hippy' record to him. Following the death of fellow chicano rocker Ritchie Valens he seemed like a natural successor, but 'Hippy Hippy Shake' failed to make much of a splash in the US. Indeed, Bob Keane, in his autobiography 'The Oracle of Del-Fi', doesn't even give Chan Romero a mention. The record did gain a UK release however, which led to UK beat groups such as the Beatles and, of course, the Swinging Blue Jeans, including it in their stage shows. It was also successful in Australia and he toured there with Jerry Lee Lewis. Chan's vocal and cultural resemblance to Ritchie Valens led to him becoming close to Valens' mother and he stayed at her home during his visits to Los Angeles, even sleeping in Valens' bedroom apparently. He remained in touch with the Valens family and performed regularly at the Ritchie Valens memorial concert held yearly in Pacoima, California. Sadly his recording career stalled after 'My Little Ruby' and although he recorded a couple more 45s in the mid sixties ('Funny Things' for Challenge and 'Humpy Bumpy' for Philips), none of them came close to matching his big hit.

Another recent death is that of Dickey Betts, singer and guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band, at the age of 80. After Duane Allman's death in 1971 he became the main guitarist in the band and wrote many of the songs on the 'Brothers and Sisters' album, including 'Ramblin' Man' and 'Jessica'. Betts' first solo album 'Highway Call' was released in 1974 and subsequent albums included 'Dickey Betts and great Southern' and 'Stlanta's Burning Down'.