In the four years I've been doing this blogging thing, I've mentioned Roy Rogers several times. I've written about how Roy was my favorite cowboy star, in a piece I called Saturday Matinees With The King Of The Cowboys, and as recently as last week I related how Western Swing star Spade Cooley imagined that … Continue reading Singing Partners – Clint And Roy
Tag: Music History
Bop For The People – Charlie Ventura
Bop -- or bebop, to use its full name -- has never been my favorite kind of jazz, but I do enjoy it more now than I once did. I came to big band music long after its heyday anyway, so my acceptance of bop was delayed but it did eventually occur. Part of the … Continue reading Bop For The People – Charlie Ventura
Shame On You, Spade Cooley
Western Swing is a type of country music that's been around for years, but is still popular with many (including me). A combination of big band swing and traditional country music, in its heyday it usually featured large groups of musicians with everything from fiddles to harps. It was fast and flashy, brimming with showmanship … Continue reading Shame On You, Spade Cooley
Lobo Still Loping Along
I can honestly say that I don't remember Lobo's "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" back in 1971, when it was climbing the charts. You'd think I would have noticed it, if for no other reason because I would have found it odd that a musician who chose to identify himself by the … Continue reading Lobo Still Loping Along
Queen Ida Still Rules
I've always maintained that music lovers of my generation have surprisingly varied tastes in music. I've tried to reflect that fact in the pieces I write, touching on a lot of different genres from time to time. However, it occurred to me that I've sort of neglected one of my favorites -- the music of … Continue reading Queen Ida Still Rules
Les Baxter – Master Of Exotica
Since I've written from time to time about guys like Percy Faith, André Kostelanetz, and a few other specialists in Easy Listening music -- a genre that isn't exactly first on everybody's playlist these days -- it would be understandable if you thought I was at it again. After all, Les Baxter certainly did his … Continue reading Les Baxter – Master Of Exotica
Buddy Knox vs Buddy Holly
At one time, I thought that Buddy Knox's 1957 chart-topping "Party Doll" was reminiscent of something Elvis might perform. But my opinion changed through the years, and I eventually decided that Knox was probably a little more like his fellow West Texas native Buddy Holly. In addition to sharing a similar background, both wrote a … Continue reading Buddy Knox vs Buddy Holly
The Electric Prunes Embodied A Movement
I couldn't resist the title (although I probably should have) but the Electric Prunes were typical of the many colorfully-named groups that seemed to be around in the psychedelic Sixties. It was an era for inventive names, and whether those monikers were really the result of a drug-induced haze or marketing -- or both -- … Continue reading The Electric Prunes Embodied A Movement
Danny O’Keefe’s Classic Lives On
Occasionally a relatively unknown musician will write and perform a song that is enormously appealing to almost everyone who hears it, a song that not only ends up becoming a signature piece for the guy, but is also eagerly performed by countless others. A good example is Danny O'Keefe and his classic "Good Time Charlie's … Continue reading Danny O’Keefe’s Classic Lives On
The OTHER Highwaymen
A while back I wrote about the Highwaymen, the legendary bunch that was made up of country music icons Willie, Waylon, Johnny and Kris. But there was at least one other group with the same name, and it had a huge number-one hit long before the country music guys got together for their little adventure. … Continue reading The OTHER Highwaymen
Geezer Music Club 