P.J. PROBY PROMOTIONAL VIDEO CIRCA 2011 !

Friends, we felt real lucky to have received this P.J. PROBY Promotional Video in our very own e-mail from P.J.'s manager Manja, who is in Holland. P.J. has just finished with the Elvis themed show and other venues are calling. There aren't many left of our generation who are as active in entertainment.



We're so Excited for P.J.!  This video shows his range - which has always been incredible - his talent and energy. Hey P.J. I want a silver suit too!

HELLO TO NEW FRIENDS USING TRANSLATORS IN FARSI AND ARABIC and A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR RECENT READERSHIP

Christine Trzyna here: Sleuth that I am (it must be all those NANCY DREW books I read in the fifth grade along with the English Classics!) I recently discovered that our blog is being translated in some languages we don't have translator flags for including Farsi and Arabic. We are a bit in awe that there are people in the Arabic and Farsi speaking countries interested in early American rock and roll and the cover tune era!

We appreciate our friends; the old friends as well as the new ones we're making!

You know we don't write for statistics but we do find our readership interesting. In the last 30 days the United States takes the lead as we tend to expect. Coming in second place are readers from Germany. Readers from France and the United Kingdom are almost tied. As are Canada and the Ukraine! We had a dozen or so readers from Australia and Poland. This week Latvia and India checked in! Welcome to you all!

UPDATE MAY 23 2012 - WE'VE INSTALLED THE NEW GOOGLE TRANSLATOR TO HELP YOU READ THIS BLOG! GIVE IT A TRY!

(374) FROM OUR ARCHIVE (316) VIVA LAS VEGAS AND GLEN CAMPBELL

Friday, June 18, 2010

(316) VIVA LAS VEGAS and GLEN CAMPBELL

Glen Campbell was aboard at American Music where I worked. When he moved to Los Angeles after Jerry Capeheart signed him, he spent a lot of time with me at my place. I got Glen Campbell the gig with Elvis Presley for the music for VIVA LAS VEGAS. Glen had asked me to introduce him to Elvis many times so I eventually did introduce the two men. Elvis asked Glen for a demo record and Glen provided it. Glen gave Elvis a demo of an instrumental he did called "Buzz Saw" that really showed off his musical genius. Because Elvis loved the demo he made the phone calls and Glen was assigned to be the LEAD GUITARIST - the LEADER OF THE BAND - for the movie music. As a member of the Musicians Union he was paid triple scale for the soundtrack work. This was before Glen become famous. He was a songwriter and studio musician much in demand for years before "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," the Jimmy Webb composition.

(373) GLEN CAMPBELL : ALZHEIMERS : LAST TOUR AND ALBUM

We're linking here to a recent LA Times Blog article about Glen Campbell, who has announced that, at 75, he has Alzheimer's but will go on one last tour.

And to what we believe to be his own site which has some excellent photos including of his latest album: http://surfdog.com/glencampbellshow/index.html

Glen was blessed with amazing musical talent, has had a long and winding road of a career and is known for his dozens of hit records, but his journey in life was not and is not easy going.

GLEN CAMPBELL : A AND W ROOTBEER 1966

Yes, Glen even worked on commercial jingles and promotions for products like rootbeer. But besides the interest here in Glen Campbell, let's just say in posting this that there has never been any shame attached to an honest day's work.

And for all of you who love music (and you have to love music to be in the business) there is no shame in background singing, jingle writing, or any of the behind the scenes work, like songwriting or music production; not everyone can become a star or have a public career that goes on for years. I feel lucky to have participated as much as I have! Wes

(372) GLEN CAMPBELL 1964 ALBUM SHOWS OFF HIS 12 STRING GUITAR PLAYING EXCELLENCE

Jerry Capeheart, Eddie Cochran's old manager, discovered Glen Campbell and invited him out to Los Angeles, gave him an American Music songwriting contract. Glen played in studios as a musician, making his living behind the scenes, until performing called to him again.

(371) CAPITOL RECORDS : A GREAT BIG RECORD LABEL

Throughout this blog we've posted on many of the smaller or regional record labels.

These labels were extrememly important to my generation of rockabilly and early rock and roll artists, as was the personality DJ who still was able to pick his or her favorites and give them a spin on the radio, often making stars out of artists. Many of these smaller labels had near no budget for promotion but the great big labels, such as Capitol Records did and so being signed by them usually meant that you'd have a publicity machine behind your efforts.

(YOU CAN USE THE SEARCH FEATURE OF THIS GOOGLE BLOGGER TO look up "personality DJ's" such as Cliff Gleaves, or Wolfman Jack!)

By 1964 Capitol had The Beatles of Great Britain and The Beach Boys of Los Angeles, California. They also had Glen Campbell, who was starting to move forward in his entertainment career after years of performing in small venues. (But let's hold a bit on the Glen Campbell story, which has been in the media lately.)

We're linking to the present day Capitol Records site where we noticed that BRIAN WILSON of the Beach Boys and RINGO STAR of the Beatles are still signed artists with this label!

OLD GOLDEN HOLLYWOOD

Probably the 1930's. A bit before my time in Hollywood, which began in the late 1950's when the Capitol Records building towered over the record business. Looks like Vine Street to me.

Used under terms and conditions with thanks from Dover Publishing

CAPITOL RECORDS : MISSING ROYALTIES : ARE YOU AN ARTIST WHO FORGOT TO CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS AT THE OFFICE?

ARE YOU A "MISSING IN ACTION" SONG WRITER OR MUSIC PRODUCER WHO HAS BEEN MISSING SOME ROYALTY CHECKS?

CAPITOL RECORDS MAY BE LOOKING FOR YOU TO PAY YOU WHAT THEY OWE!

Linking here to a small database of people who left town and forgot their pay!

WES HERE : I looked at a number of these and recognized a few names!

Liberty Records was sold to United Artists and then UA sold them to EMI which owns Capitol Records.

CAPITOL RECORDS and THE PLAZA HOTEL

From Our Archives

Capitol Records and the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood circa 1960, credited to photographer Roy Hankey, through Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection Database. We've been looking through free image collections for a good photo of the Capitol building which looked a bit like a stack of records.

Besides Capitol records, we also see the Plaza Hotel- where I had tea with actress and James Dean's great friend Christine White, the Huntington-Hartford, and the Broadway Department store.

UPDATE July 2011. We're linking to a Hollywood/ Capitol Records Memory Site by Nori Muster. This site includes "The Capitol Tower Turned fifty in 2006. Read correspondence, remembrance, and images from the grand opening, including the 1956 press release, information sheet, tour guide script, and Tower booklet." and more!

(370) BUDDY KNOX and WES BRYAN SINGER-SONGWRITERS COMPOSE ALL BY MYSELF RECORDED ON LIBERTY RECORDS

Here are two variations of the LIBERTY RECORDS labels for the song Buddy Knox recorded with the Johnny Mann Singers as background, that he and I wrote called "All By Myself." It sold well enough to get a Gold Record and went for a second pressing. The song also appeared on an album of his. Glenda Music was Buddy's own publishing company.



This was the promo copy that went to DJ's only. It was played on radio stations.

This was the store copy.

(369) JOHNNY MANN SINGERS : BACKGROUND SINGERS OF IMPORTANCE

Like the Ray Charles Singers, the Johnny Mann Singers have recorded for years and sometimes the two groups recorded the same songs, popular music that appealed to three generations. The Johnny Mann Singers covered some of the songs Elvis recorded and songs recorded by the Beatles too. My friend Buddy Knox had them for his whole album that the song he and I wrote, "All By Myself", was on. Snuffy Garret was the producer on that album Buddy Knox on Liberty Records.



In this video the Johnny Mann singers record commercial music for KEARTH 101, a popular radio station in Los Angeles with a rock and oldies format.

FOURTH OF JULY 2011

BEACH BOYS 1964 ON BRITAINS READY STEADY GO SHOW!

JAQUES DELILLE Quote on Friendship

"Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends." - Jacques DeLille