Marvin Rainwater

He is considered to have been a rockabilly … legend is a bit strong, but something like that. He had 4 hits in the late 50s, one of which was called Half Breed and was not the Cher song.

The two songs I have here came from two different places; the first was on a compilation album, K-Tel or something, the second from the original single.

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Marvin Rainwater:

• Gonna Find Me A Bluebird – He’s been feeling sorry for himself, but he’s done. And he’s made up his mind that things will be better. I say good for him, but there’s still some sadness here, it’s in the steel guitar, it’s in the bird’s trill, it’s in his voice. So I’m not so convinced. From the summer of 1957.
• Whole Lotta Woman – Sounds like someone who needs everything on a big scale. She gotta have a “whole lotta man.” I don’t wonder. From the winter of 1958.

Chas McDevitt Group

My one track from this one hit wonder skiffle group comes from The Roots Of British Rock, that I mentioned before, in connection with Lonnie Donegan, who, like McDevitt, was from Glascow. The singer, who went by the extraoridinary name of Nancy Whisky (from the song, whose name, by coincidence, is Nancy Whisky), her real name was Ann Wilson, which isn’t nearly as cool.

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Chas McDevitt Group (with Nancy Whisky):

• Freight Train – This seems to have been a folk song that got picked up by many recording artists. It’s the story of a guy who left. Pretty simple. This is the skiffle version, a hit in the summer of 1957, top 10 in the UK, top 40 in the US. I also have versions by Rusty Draper, and Peter, Paul & Mary.

Johnny Mathis

I don’t get too excited about Johnny Mathis. He is the anti-Elvis, a black man trying to sound white.

He had quite the chart career: 99 records on the hot 100 between 1957 and 1978. What I have here is Johnny’s Greatest Hits, most of More Johnny’s Greatest Hits, and few singles. This is all early stuff, ending in 1963.

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Johnny Mathis:

• Chances Are – His signature song. This was a hit in the fall of 1957, and it is a love song, obviously, and it seems to be about the capricious nature of romance. To my ears it’s facile, but that’s just one man’s opinion. The song made number 1 on Billboard
• All The Time – He waxes operatic here, too much vibrato man. A hit in the summer of 1958.
• The Twelfth Of Never – Another song of undying love, and an expression I used when my kids ask me when. From the fall of 1957. The B side of Chances Are.
• When Sunny Gets Blue – Nobody is happy all the time.
• When I Am With You – How love changes who we are. Not only is everything perfect, but our hero changes. He loves her for what he is when he is with her.
• Wonderful! Wonderful! – No relation to Lawrence Welk. From the summer of 1957.
• It’s Not For Me To Say – From the summer of 1957. I don’t know how two records by the same artist on the same label ended up on the chart at the same time.
• Come To Me – Not The Tommy James & The Shodelles hit. From the winter of 1958. I think this would have been better sung by a woman. “My desire is that you possess me…”
• Wild Is The Wind – From late 1957, nothing is wild about this song. David Bowie does a phenomenal version.
• Warm And Tender – Lots of pizzicato going on here. It doesn’t help
• No Love (But Your Love) – From late 1957. The A side of Wild Is The Wind.
• I Look At You – How it feels to be attracted to someone who is unavailable.
• Small World – Not the Disney song. How much we have in common. From the summer of 1959.
• Let It Rain – Not the Derek & The Dominoes song. Another song using rain as a symbol for broken romance.
• The Flame Of Love
• A Certain Smile – From the summer of 1958.
• Very Much In Love
• Someone – A cloying song, by an artist who specialized in cloyingness. A hit in the spring of 1959, and covered by The Righteous Brothers, though they called it Guess Who.
• Call Me – Not the 60s favourite that was a hit for Chris Montez. From the fall of 1958.
• You Are Beautiful – From the winter of 1959.
• Teacher Teacher – The DeCastro Sisters did Teach Me Tonight, and Doris Day did Teacher’s Pet, and this guy does this. It’s all sick. From the summer of 1958, the B side of All The Time.
• Stairway To The Sea
• Let’s Love – From the winter of 1959.
• Misty – A song that became much bigger than Mathis’ recording of it. Not even Johnny could kill this one. Ray Stevens did a great version. From late 1959.
• What Will Mary Say – A song about cheating, and a girl named Mary. Very blasé. From the winter of 1963.
• Gina – The A side of Come To Me and a hit in the fall of 1962. The only Gina I ever knew was Mona’s younger sister. Mona? She was my classmate in last elementary / early junior high school.

Ricky Nelson

It’s crazy to say this maybe, but I think Rick Nelson was always cool. Even when he was a geeky teenage idol, he was cool. That’s not to be taken lightly. I mean, Tab Hunter, Tommy Sands, love ‘em or hate ‘em, but they weren’t so cool. Nor was Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Vee, Paul Anka, or even Bobby Sherman.


But Ricky, he was cool. The proof, if any is needed, was his successful reinvention of himself as a country-fold-rock singer songwriter. No album by Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band would have been out of place in an early 70s collection with CNSY and Melanie and Curved Air and Savoy Brown.

But even before that, he exuded a self confidence and attitude, even with juvenile material (Young Emotions), and when the material was good (Restless Kid) it was no contest.

And for the inevitable statistics: Ricky had exactly 100 top 100 singles, the first in 1957, the last in 1973. I have 35 in this self-made collection, and I have more elsewhere, in a collection that I downloaded but haven’t actually listened to yet.

I got the Verve tracks from some kind of Baby Boomer collection, and I’ve got the Legendary Masters Series, the double album, which I procured at the Country Music Centre, and which had an unholy mix of hits and others. And I have a cassette collection called Teenage Idol, which doesn’t work very well anymore, and the Decca tracks come from The Decca Years, which is brief, but nice. I got a few singles too – Mighty Good , I Wanna Be Loved / Summertime.

He became “Rick” in 1962, and some of his later stuff was released as Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band.

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Ricky Nelson:

• A Teenager’s Romance – Ricky’s first hit was a clone of Tommy Sands’ Teenage Crush, except that it sounded different and had a Jordinaires soundalike group on background vocals. From the summer of 1957.
• Be-Bop Baby – Not bebop at all of course. This is still the 50s version of bubble gum. From the fall of 1957.
• I’m Walking – The A side of that first hit. The vocal is a bit stilted, I mean come on, listen to Fats. But it does swing a bit. From the summer of 1957.
• Stood Up – Not a nice feeling. “Stood up,” he says, “brokenhearted, again.” I wonder whether the “again” refers to brokenhearted, or stood up, because if he’s brokenhearted again, well, hey, that’s life. But stood up again? Once it’s forgivable. Twice? Well… from the winter of 1958.
• Tryin’ To Get To You – The romantic partner as the elusive goal. Elvis recorded this for Sun and RCA put it on his first LP, and Roy Orbison recorded this, also for Sun. There is an oddball version by The McGarrigle Sisters as well.
• MyBabe – By Willy Dixon. An R&B hit by Little Walter, and covered by many.
• Milk Cow Blues – From Johnny Lee Wills & His Boys to Elvis to Eddie Cochran to Ricky Nelson. For a teen idol Ricky had a good sense of rock and roll. From the winter of 1961
• Poor Little Fool – A number 1 hit in the summer of 1958. Here’s Ricky the dupe. He has his comeuppance. Frankie Mills did a remake in the early 70s.
• Waitin’ In School – Ricky the teenager, compare School Day by Chuck Berry, and you hear the innocence in this. The B side of Stood Up and a hit in the winter of 1958.
• I Believe What You Say – Why wouldn’t he. An odd way to express commitment. From the spring of 1958.
• Shirley Lee – Done by Billy Lee Riley as Pearly Lee.
• Down The Line – Just straight ahead rock and roll, just as the title suggests.
• I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You) – Didn’t Patsy Cline do this? So did B. J. Thomas. So did etc etc… By Hank Williams
• I’m In Love Again – Well, I’m Walkin’ did well enough, so here is another Fats Domino number.
• It’s Late – Wake Up Little Suzie redux, but without so much drama. From the spring of 1959.
• Old Enough To Love – A series of over-the-top metaphors prove that he may be old enough but he certainly isn’t disciplined enough. This snuck into the top 100 for 3 weeks in the spring of 1963.
• Restless Kid – Ricky brings his mellow delivery to the tale of the kid who could not stop moving. There is something subtly sophisticated and endlessly cool about this one.
• Just A Little Too Much – Can one love too much? From the summer of 1959.
• A Long Vacation – The answer to Summertime Blues.
• Lonesome Town – The understated arrangement here is perfect: the vocals, the acoustic guitar arrangement, the backing vocals. Today they would pour electric piano all over it like sticky syrup that would turn the whole thing to goo. From the fall of 1958.
• Travelin’ Man – This mellow tale of a roving vagabond reached number 1 in the summer of 1961. In the words of Mark Sten: “…the music and the melody where so despondent that the record seems oddly schizoid.”
• Young Emotions – here’s where it gets syrupy, and it highlights the quality of a record like Lonesome Town. From the summer of 1960.
• Never Be Anyone Else But You –The divorce rate would argue otherwise. From the spring of 1959.
• Young World – When you’re in love the whole world is young. Or something. A typical Ricky ballad, from the spring of 1962.
• I’ve Got My Eyes On You (And I Like What I See) – Just like that.
• Teenage Idol – The lonesome life of the star. Why don’t I believe it. From the fall of 1962.
• It’s Up To You – Put your life into someone else’s hands. Go ahead. Well… this was a hit in the winter of 1963. Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas covered this.
• A Wonder Like You – Compare your girl to the pyramids, I supposed it’s worth a try. From the fall of 1961.
• I’ve Got A Feeling – Not the Crowbar song. From the fall of 1958.
• Everlovin’ – The B side of A Wonder Like You. From the fall of 1961.
• Sweeter Than You – The B side of A Little Too Much and a hit in the summer of 1959, this is similar to Lonesome Town, except that the actual song isn’t nearly as good.
• My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It – This Hank Williams song, the B side of I Believe What You Say, was a hit in the spring of 1958.
• Don’t Leave Me – Not so many of Ricky’s songs are about romantic discord, but here’s one that is.
• My One Desire – This is a song by someone with only one thing on his mind, by his own admission.
• Hello Mary Lou – What may be Nelson’s most famous record, this was written by Gene Pitney, who did his own, somewhat anemic, version. It only ever reached number 15 on Billboard, and that was in the springof 1961, and it was the B side of Travelin’ Man. The Statler Brothers covered this.
• That’s All – A balladeer standard. Ricky’s version is from the spring of 1963.
• There’s Nothing I Can Say – From the fall of 1964, a new Ricky (Rick by then, actually). Here he is recording for Decca, and he’s lost the teen idol sound totally. This is slightly country, very mellow, and very real.
• For You – Not the Bruce Springsteen song. An earlier Decca side, sort of a bridge sound between the old Ricky and the new Rick. From the winter of 1964.
• Mighty Good – This was one side. From late 1959. A bit more rock and roll than usual.
• I Wanna Be Loved – And this is the other side. Also from late 1959.
• Summertime – An odd arrangement, it sounds exactly like We Ain’t Got Nothing Yet by Blues Magoos, a song that would not exist for another five years. This was the B side of Young World, and a small hit in the winter of 1962.
• Garden Party – Rick’s vindication. This record by Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band put Nelson back in the top 10 for the first time in 10 years, and that was in the fall of 1972. This tale of the frustration of trying to feed new music to an audience waiting for oldies was all over the radio, but it wasn’t really a good radio hit; the tune is too thin to stand repeated playings. Yes I know I said it was a great record. Live with it. • Fools Rush In – An adaption of a standard, from the fall of 1963.
• String Along – Tale of a guy that’s feeling kind of ignored. This, if I’m not mistaken, was his first Decca hit, in the spring of 1963. A hit also for Fabian.
• The Very Thought Of You – Rick experimenting with styles. From the spring of 1964.
• For Your Sweet Love – Another example of what is essentially the Ricky Nelson updated and slightly countrified.
• I’m Called Lonely – This is real hard core country. From the late 60s.
• I’m Talking About You – And this is rock and roll. Chuck Berry did this, so did the Stones.
• She Belongs To Me – By Bob Dylan, from Bringing It All Back Home. Rick’s version was a top 40 record late in 1969, though I never heard it on the radio. There is a version of this song by The Nice, and this is the only other one I know, and it’s worthy.

The Coasters

The nexus between rock & roll (and I include r&b) and humour has never been clear. On the whole, rock and roll isn’t very funny. Now, there’ve been a few funny men, and I’m not counting Stan Freberg, who was a comedian plain and simple. But there was Ray Stevens, who made what were considered funny records, but his stuff is generally more about silly and juvenile than funny (except Moonlight Special – now *that’s* funny). Roger Miller had a sense of humour, and so does John Prine and so do a few others.

It was the Coasters who were known as the clowns of R&B. And sure they clowned around on their records, either giving us a funny story, (Along Came Jones) or a funny take on something we deal with every day ( Poison Ivy, Shopping For Clothes), or an outrageous arrangement of a musical standard (Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart). And it’s too obvious to state (so why do I state it?) that The Coasters use humour as a kind of defence mechanism, couching so many things that hurt in jokes and laughter.

And so we have the outcast (Charlie Brown), annoying parents (Yakity Yak), financial incapacity (Shopping For Clothes), girl troubles (Poison Ivy). And they laugh, but they’re not laughing inside.


I picked up this album, The Greatest Recordings: The Early Years, at Country Music Centre. It’s an odd collection, with an odd name. To begin with, it has two tracks by The Robins, who are not The Coasters at all, though Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn were members. Then, insofar as they were hit makers, their early years where their only years. The tracks on the album span the years 1957 – 1961. After 1961 they only ever had two more hits, one in ’64 and one in 1971 (!). And the album has 9 of their hits, and doesn’t have 10. I have another 2 hits here besides those, plus some classics that weren’t hits but have acquired some kind of status based on covers and just being well-known. They came mostly from singles.

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The Coasters:

• Along Came Jones – A cartoon in song, reminds me of the Mighty Mouse cartoons my sister used to watch. (Me? No. I watched Yogi Bear). I suppose it would be a stretch to suggest that there is some profound statement about good and evil here.A top 10 hit in the summer of 1959, and remade by Ray Stevens in 1969.
• Searchin’ – Their top 10 debut. A song of determination. From the summer of 1957.
• Shopping For Clothes – Listed by Whitburn as a novelty track, but this is pure social commentary. A simple tale of a man buying fancy duds, but he’s denied credit, and so the whole deal goes out the window. The slinking rhythm and the smoky sax suggests that customer isn’t on the up and up, which adds another dimension to the tragic tale. From the fall of 1960.
• Besame Mucho – One of those tropical sunset songs, written in 1940 and recorded by many, including The Beatles for the Decca audition in January, 1962, but The Coasters take it somewhere else. From the spring of 1960. This song covered both sides of a single, and I’ve got both here, but I’m only listing it once.
• Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart – Made famous by Judy Garland, among others, The Coasters gave this a truly idiosyncratic arrangement, so inspired that The Move and later The Trampps did note-for-note copies. Wasn’t a hit but should have been.
• I’m A Hog For You – This is the B side of Poison Ivy and it was from the fall of 1959. Easily the most romantic song around with a porcine theme. Freddy & The Dreamers did this.
• Three Cool Cats – Another song full of caricatures. Another one that The Beatles did on their audition.
• Let’s Go Get Stoned – An early Ashford – Simpson composition. This from the latter 60s, long after the group had ceased to matter, but the song was a hit for Ray Charles.
• Yakety Yak – Perhaps the best protest song of all time, with what is probably King Curtis’ most famous sax solo. This song went to #1 in the summer of 1958
• Little Egypt (Ying Yang) – A song about a stripper. But the punch line is that they get married in the end. Not only that, but they have seven kids. Not only that, but they’re *all* crawlin’ ‘round the floor. From the summer of 1961. Ying Yang.
• Charlie Brown – Not, as far as I can tell, the Peanuts character, more like the school troublemaker. A song about someone who just does not fit in. From the winter of 1959. “Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me…”
• Down In Mexico – Drama, think Come A Little Bit Closer by Jay & The Americans, but steamier, all atmosphere, with a sax that steams along like a locomotive, and, imagine, a happy ending – or at least no violence, no cheating, no jealous boyfriend…
• That Is Rock And Roll – Did you ever hear the guitar clang, jimgi-jingi-jingi-jang. I’m sure I’ve never heard a better description. Down to earth.
• Poison Ivy – Hands down best song ever about a toxic female. From the fall of 1959. The Stones covered this, and so did The Hollies. “You’re gonna need an ocean … of Calamine lotion…”
• Young Blood – One only need imagine what this is about. “I took one look but I was fractured.” From the summer of 1957, the B side of Searchin’ and top 10 in its own right.
• Turtle Dovin’ – A description of the perfect relationship, sounds like.
• Idol With The Golden Head – Moral: be careful what you pray for. This song of out and out paganism was a hit in the fall of 1957.

Phineas Newborn, Jr.

A jazz pianist, he had a tumultuous career, beset by mental health problems and critical panning.

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Phineas Newborn, Jr.

• Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair – I guess it is at that, when it’s not red. A subdued version of this song, heavily orchestrated. Check out Nina Simone doing this. From an RCA anthology of jazz through the decades.

Jackie Gleason

A story:

My mother had this cousin, well, I guess he was my cousin too. He wasn’t a first cousin, not even close, maybe 6th, which would make him, what, my 7th? 6th once removed? I don’t know.

This cousin, he lived in Chicago, and we did not live in Chicago, so we did not see him often, but I met him first when maybe I was about 13. He was a big guy, probably weighed 600 lbs, and old. He had come to Canada in the 30s, spent one year and then moved on to the US, and now he would have been 60 something at least, and he spoke very broken English, notwithstanding his having lived in North America for almost 40 years.

And so there we were in Chicago, it was 1971, and I was a kid, he and his wife, they had no kids. He was an oddball, had quirky sense of humour – quirky, but not really funny. But he was good natured, very good natured. And he gave me a gift. He said to me, I want to give you something. And he pulled out a record from his collection and told me that he’d always loved it and he wanted me to have it. It was a recording by Jackie Gleason, and until that moment I’d had no idea that Jackie Gleason was anything other that a comedian who had a weekly TV show that I did not watch. But apparently Gleason was a conductor / arranger, and here was one of his LPs, total elevator music, and I knew I’d never listen to it. And I felt bad, because here he was making a sacrifice for me, who knows why, and I had no use for it.

And I was wrong, you know. I thought I’d never listen to that LP, but I did listen to it – once. I said you know, it’s here, I have to listen to it at least once. And I was right, I had no use for it.

I now have this collection by the said Jackie Gleason, and I don’t remember where I got it, or when, though it was a relatively recent acquisition, “recent” meaning maybe not more than 12 years ago. It’s The Best Of Jackie Gleason, but it doesn’t have his only hit, which was Autumn Leaves, released in 1955.

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Jackie Gleason

• La La La La La La La La – Ok, that has to be either the best song title ever, or the worst. Vote.
• You’re Driving Me Crazy – I have a version of Frank Sinatra doing this.
• How Sweet It Is – This must be his theme song. Not the Marvin Gaye song, that’s for sure.
• I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face – I don’t know, man, that doesn’t sound so great…
• More – Gleason takes a stab at the theme from Mondo Cane. He is up against much competition. He takes it slower than the usual.
• Alone Together – Not the Dave Mason song.
• The Girl From Ipanema – The Stan Getz hit from 1964. The orchestration kills the bossa nova here, but it’s still a good song.
• Melancholy Serenade – Lives up to its name.
• Call Me Irresponsible – A hit for Jack Jones in 1963.
• To A Sleeping Beauty – A thoroughly maudlin recitative from a father to his small sleeping daughter. Yech. He speaks this, accompanied by a mute organ, and it’s the only non-instrumental track on the collection. Jimmy Dean had a hit with this in 1962.