BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY, the signature song of THE BLUE MOON BOYS !
Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on stand up base... a 1954 Rockabilly Classic!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
BROWSE OUR ARCHIVES !
If you'd like to browse through our blog, you can use the Google Search feature above, click on links, or use the Archives! We've been blogging for a couple years now and we've enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC!
Christine Trzyna and Wes Bryan
Thanks for reading WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC!
Christine Trzyna and Wes Bryan
Friday, December 25, 2009
GREETINGS OF THE SEASON from WES and HIS FAMILY!
We've been having cold weather - high winds and visable snow on the mountains north of us - the Sierra Madre - for the last week or so, but Santa has long had to forget the sleigh and find some other way to deliver here in the land of palm trees.Keep warm!
Wes
Thursday, December 24, 2009
(288) BING CROSBY DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE
Johnny Rivers and I were friends with Bing's son in those early Hollywood years. This song was written in 1962 and has been recorded by so many artists since, but it's Bing's version that gave us that old Christmas feeling.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
(287) JERRY LEE LEWIS WHITE CHRISTMAS
VIDEO REMOVED Dec 3, 2010. See other Jerry Lee Lewis posts by using the Google seach feature that searches this blog.
Jerry settles down to the piano to perform a classic and is uncharacteristically mellow!
Jerry settles down to the piano to perform a classic and is uncharacteristically mellow!
Monday, December 21, 2009
(286) FRANKIE AVALON YOU'RE ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
Frankie came out with a Christmas album in 1962, after acting in a film called Panic In The Year Zero, a war picture. This smooth romantic song was one of the songs he recorded for the album along with classics. Frankie and his wife have eight children and are still together after all these years.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
(284) FABIAN BREAK DOWN AND CRY DECEMBER 1962
My old friend from New York, Fabian (Fabian Forte), recorded a song that Jimmy Bowen and I wrote called "Break Down and Cry" and it was a hit for him! Pat Boone and Randy Wood (Dot was his label) were the producers.He recorded it as a 45 RPM single on Dot Records in 1962 (number 45-16413).
Then the song was recorded as a single on Chancellor (Number 16413).
Here's the chart for radio station KQV in Pittsburgh: http://user.pa.net/~ejjeff/kqv120162.html
Link now to Fabians official web site where you can find a link to his fan club by clicking on the title above!
Like many of my peers he has continued to sing his heart out, entertaining generations of Rock n' Roll fans!
He's been inducted into the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame too. What a great contribution to music the sons and daughters of that city have made to American music!
Then the song was recorded as a single on Chancellor (Number 16413).
Here's the chart for radio station KQV in Pittsburgh: http://user.pa.net/~ejjeff/kqv120162.html
Link now to Fabians official web site where you can find a link to his fan club by clicking on the title above!
Like many of my peers he has continued to sing his heart out, entertaining generations of Rock n' Roll fans!
He's been inducted into the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame too. What a great contribution to music the sons and daughters of that city have made to American music!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Hello to MY GREAT FRIEND NAN MORRIS !
Nan Morris has been a friend of mine for years.
She's retired now but was one of Hollywood's dynamic agents in her time.
She was P.J. Proby's manager for a while and behind P.J. when he started cutting demos for Elvis Presley.
She was one of the few women who was always welcome up at Elvis'.
You could say she was "one of the guys."
It's always great to have a catch up phone call with Nan!
She's retired now but was one of Hollywood's dynamic agents in her time.
She was P.J. Proby's manager for a while and behind P.J. when he started cutting demos for Elvis Presley.
She was one of the few women who was always welcome up at Elvis'.
You could say she was "one of the guys."
It's always great to have a catch up phone call with Nan!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
(283) HONEY BABY on CLOCK
Meeting all the great talent that came through those doors at American Music was inspiring to me. I had worked a bit recording in the Brill Building in New York, doing demos, listening to songs that were being written for me in mind by songwriters like Neil Sedaka. Well, when I went on to record on CLOCK records in New York, a fellow named David "Baby" Cortez wrote this one for me...
THANKS TO ARNE once again for being the first to post this on Youtube, and with so much care to the video !
Now, I had very little time to prepare to record and record this record - both sides - and I wish I'd had more time .
I sang "Honey Baby" when I visted my high school in Murphy, North Carolina, and performed a stage show there.
THANKS TO ARNE once again for being the first to post this on Youtube, and with so much care to the video !
Now, I had very little time to prepare to record and record this record - both sides - and I wish I'd had more time .
I sang "Honey Baby" when I visted my high school in Murphy, North Carolina, and performed a stage show there.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE on ELVIS preview for January 2010 !
In the upcoming January 2010 VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE, an article about the LA GRAMMY MUSEUM exhibit of AFRED WERTHEIMER's photo collection of 1956 ELVIS PRESLEY... He shot 3800 photos of Elvis in June and July of 1956.
"ACCORDING TO A 2002 HARRIS POLL, 84% of Americans have had their lives touched by Elvis Presley in some way."
"THE MEMPHIS FLASH" became "ELVIS THE PELVIS!"
"ACCORDING TO A 2002 HARRIS POLL, 84% of Americans have had their lives touched by Elvis Presley in some way."
Monday, December 7, 2009
(282) PJ PROBY LIVED IN A CASTLE and DROVE A ROLLS - MAKING DEMOS IS HONORABLE WORK
Like Bobby Darin and several other other music stars and singer-songwriters, P.J. Proby recorded demos for other artists.
If you can get this work today, do it! It can be a very smart move. First of all it gives you experience recording in a studio, all the equipment and possibilities open to you working in there. Other artists are recording in the same or adjacent studios. You meet singers, musicians, and producers. You get to test and train your voice. It's an in.
PJ recorded demo records for Elvis Presley, though you can hear the difference in his and Elvis' voices. This is how it worked in the songwriting business. The demo singer tried to emulate the style or sound of the singer so that he or she could really try it on. Sometimes the end result was a record that was very different from the demo anyway and sometimes the song was picked up by another artist. This kind of pitch honored the artist that may have had the song written with him or her in mind.
P.J. got his own career going and he still does! P.J. lived in a castle and drove a Rolls when he got his going. He's a hardworking and talented man and I'm happy to call him a friend!
And yes, David Gates, Leon Russel, and Glen Campbell, who were session musicians on this song, all went on to have great individual careers!
If you can get this work today, do it! It can be a very smart move. First of all it gives you experience recording in a studio, all the equipment and possibilities open to you working in there. Other artists are recording in the same or adjacent studios. You meet singers, musicians, and producers. You get to test and train your voice. It's an in.
PJ recorded demo records for Elvis Presley, though you can hear the difference in his and Elvis' voices. This is how it worked in the songwriting business. The demo singer tried to emulate the style or sound of the singer so that he or she could really try it on. Sometimes the end result was a record that was very different from the demo anyway and sometimes the song was picked up by another artist. This kind of pitch honored the artist that may have had the song written with him or her in mind.
P.J. got his own career going and he still does! P.J. lived in a castle and drove a Rolls when he got his going. He's a hardworking and talented man and I'm happy to call him a friend!
And yes, David Gates, Leon Russel, and Glen Campbell, who were session musicians on this song, all went on to have great individual careers!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC RIGHTS INFORMATION
WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC RIGHTS INFORMATION
Once in a while we'll be posting a notice like this one that reminds readers that the content of this blog is Copyright Wes Bryan and Christine Trzyna with all rights reserved including Internet and International Rights.
If interested in speaking to me, Wes Bryan, please contact us at the e-mail address wewritethebook@yahoo.com
(By the way folks, don't phish us or spam us, or try to scam us; We report it all and block offenders addresses!)
We are linking to a good many web sites, favoring the official web sites of various famous and important people as well as reference sites and music videos. If we link to your site or a video you uploaded and you don't want us to reference it, please let us know, and we'll take down the link. The content of other people's sites remains their own.
Thank you for your consideration and courtesy.
Christine Trzyna & Wes Bryan
Once in a while we'll be posting a notice like this one that reminds readers that the content of this blog is Copyright Wes Bryan and Christine Trzyna with all rights reserved including Internet and International Rights.
If interested in speaking to me, Wes Bryan, please contact us at the e-mail address wewritethebook@yahoo.com
(By the way folks, don't phish us or spam us, or try to scam us; We report it all and block offenders addresses!)
We are linking to a good many web sites, favoring the official web sites of various famous and important people as well as reference sites and music videos. If we link to your site or a video you uploaded and you don't want us to reference it, please let us know, and we'll take down the link. The content of other people's sites remains their own.
Thank you for your consideration and courtesy.
Christine Trzyna & Wes Bryan
Friday, December 4, 2009
PHILIP RHODES MY FRIEND and MARLON BRANDO'S
This is a memorial for an old friend - old? He must have been 95!
I'd been thinking about Philip and couldn't find the address book I had his number in. When I called yesterday, it was only to learn from Philip's grieving wife, Marie, that Philip had passed away early this year.
Phil was a true genius in the art of movie make-up - a silent giant - and collaborated with Marlon Brando for years, to get his look just right for his films. He had known John Barrymore and was a friend to Orson Wells. Phil and I spend hours talking about Hollywood and James Dean. I enjoyed listening to Phil's stories, and his philosophizing. He was a true gentleman of the kind they don't make any more, an ascot tucked into his shirt, immaculate. The last time I saw him he was having a little "power lunch" at DuPars, a diner famous for its pies, with a group of his friends. -Wes Bryan
I met Phil through Wes at the library where he and I first met. One time Phil talked to me about making noses and adding to chins with wax. He was one of those artistic individuals who always had a project. And he would go to book sales and giveaways and load up the trunk of his car, because he had the kind of mind that always craves knowledge.
He had vivid blue eyes and a youthful quality that defied his years; he had lived in Paris in the 1920's. I can only hope that I will live as long and be able to contribute creatively as much as Phil did. - Christine Trzyna
I'd been thinking about Philip and couldn't find the address book I had his number in. When I called yesterday, it was only to learn from Philip's grieving wife, Marie, that Philip had passed away early this year.
Phil was a true genius in the art of movie make-up - a silent giant - and collaborated with Marlon Brando for years, to get his look just right for his films. He had known John Barrymore and was a friend to Orson Wells. Phil and I spend hours talking about Hollywood and James Dean. I enjoyed listening to Phil's stories, and his philosophizing. He was a true gentleman of the kind they don't make any more, an ascot tucked into his shirt, immaculate. The last time I saw him he was having a little "power lunch" at DuPars, a diner famous for its pies, with a group of his friends. -Wes Bryan
I met Phil through Wes at the library where he and I first met. One time Phil talked to me about making noses and adding to chins with wax. He was one of those artistic individuals who always had a project. And he would go to book sales and giveaways and load up the trunk of his car, because he had the kind of mind that always craves knowledge.
He had vivid blue eyes and a youthful quality that defied his years; he had lived in Paris in the 1920's. I can only hope that I will live as long and be able to contribute creatively as much as Phil did. - Christine Trzyna
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
(281) BOBBY DARIN HELL FOR HEROS
While my generation had Korea and the United States was in Vietnam, fascination for World War II pictures continued. My friend from New York, Bobby Darin, had moved to Hollywood to pursue his own acting career. I would go to movie sets and pitch songs I wrote or my coworkers at American Music wrote to pitch them to stars like Bobby.
LINK TO BOBBY DARIN'S OFFICIAL SITE HERE !
In 1962 Bobby also made a television appearance on the Judy Garland show.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
DODD DARIN speaks of his dad BOBBY DARIN
Bobby's son Dodd wrote a book called "Dream Lovers." As he says he wrote it from a place of love and honesty.
I remember Bobby telling me he started TM Music, his publishing house, because he wanted his son to have something when he died. Bobby's health was never as strong as his enthusiasm. Of many of us who started out being groomed to make films as actors and records as singers, Bobby was managed to fulfill that potential.