(477) BUDDY KNOX "THE ROCKABILLY GOLD RECORD LEGEND" AND PARTY DOLL : COVERED BY STEVE LAWRENCE, RICKY "BONGO" JAMES, JOHNNY MAESTRO and THE CRESTS, and THE HULLABALOOS

LINK TO OFFICIAL BUDDY KNOX SITE : BUDDY KNOX OFFICIAL

In the end, I don't think Buddy Knox himself made much money on his hit "Party Doll," a song that was covered all over the United States by local bands and covered in many recordings which illustrate the role of the music arranger and music producer in a record, not considering the song's popularity and endurance. 

The song became a standard at local dance party type shows. It always got people up and jumping.  Buddy wrote the song when he was a teenager and it was one of the first he recorded while with Jimmy Bowen and their group The Rhythm Orchids.

We were checking out the videos of  Buddy and Jimmy on YouTube and found a lot of covers of "Party Doll," some which illustrate that American Invasion of Britain!

You'll find some excellent renditions of the song that go from Rock-A-Billy to Jazz to Mod Beatlesque circa 1966.  Take a few moments to listen to the variety of these recordings of Buddy's song.

This first video is from the Ed Sullivan show, I believe. 
The song was over quick. That's Jimmy Bowen on the bass.  

As Recorded on Roulette and Columbia and...

Steve Lawrence didn't hesitate. His recording came out in 1957, not long after Buddy's.

Same year the song was recorded in Britain by Ricky "Bongo" James and his group. Jazzy Cool.



Johnny Maestro of The Crests recorded it in 1960!  - looking for a hit four years after the became a hit for Buddy. 

 
1966 in Great Britain - The  HULLABALLOOS!               
Recorded on Roulette... Roulette wasn't giving up those residuals!

Rock-a-billy cover bands like Sha-na-na and The Jets cover the song in their live performances.

DVD : ED SULLIVAN PRESENTS ROCK N ROLL REVOLUTION : THE BRITISH INVADE AMERICA - AMERICA FIGHTS BACK

I performed on the Ed Sullivan show, and a while back we contacted the owners of the archive to see if they have preserved that performance.  Never heard a thing.  These days the Ed Sullivan Show (SOFA Entertainment) has their own YouTube station.

This DVD is a series of Ed Sullivan show performances of The Beatles, Gerry (Marsden) and the Pacemakers, The Rollings Stones, The Animals, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, The Hollies, Herman's Hermits, James Brown, The Supremes, The Righteous Brothers, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys...Well selected by SOFA ENTERTNAINMENT to truly present the American and British bands that were hitting the charts about the same time in the min 1960's.  As you can see from the list, it touches on the American Invasion of Britain as well.


Hosted by Graham Nash and Michelle Phillips, Producted by Andrew Solt, Greg Vines, Leslie Tong, and written by Andrew Solt...  C 2011 SOFA Entertainemtn.

ANY VIDEO OF ERSEL HICKEY PERFORMING? HOW ABOUT WES BRYAN ?

Here's a challenge to anyone who uses YouTube or other Internet video sharing sites! We would love to find footage of Ersel Hickey performing and post it! We would love to find footage of Wes performing as well.

And by the way, we know that there must be footage somewhere. Wes performed on Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark's American Band Stand (twice), the Jack Paar show, and many other regional shows in Baltimore, Cleveland, and throughout the south, as well as on shows in Los Angeles.  And he appeared live on the pier in Santa Monica.

Wes performed with Ersel Hickey in stage shows in the state of New York.  He also performed with Buddy Knox on his tour in the late 1950's in 48 states and some of you may have photos taken of Wes and Buddy from that tour.

Unfortunately many archival collections are organized by the show headliners, and over time what has been preserved is often the early careers of people such as Elvis Presley, people who became much more famous. I've enjoyed watching a number of Dick Clark American Bandstand videos all the way through at the Paley Center for the Media, including those commercials that seem so much more dated than the music,  but they don't have a full collection.  I contacted the Ed Sullivan collection but got no reply.

If you know of local repositories of film or related materials in your park of the United States please let us know!

Christine

POSTING FROM PALEY CENTER FOR THE MEDIA in BEVERLY HILLS : ED SULLIVAN SHOW and BUDDY HOLLY and THE CRICKETS

Christine here: My personal celebration was to go to the Paley Center for the Media in Beverly Hills today to start watching old Ed Sullivan and Dick Clark American Bandstand shows. What a beautiful, light and airy, masterfully designed modern space! I watched an Ed Sullivan from early December 1957 that featured two performances by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, which were "That'll Be the Day," and "Peggy Sue." When Ed talked to Buddy and the boys from Lubbock, Texas, he asked them how old they were. Buddy said he was 21, and that two of the guys were 18 and one was 19.

We link to Paley Center For the Media (where the curators blog!)

(342) THE GIRLS GO CRAZY FOR THE BEATLES SHE LOVES YOU NOVEMBER 1963

If ever there was a threat to Elvis it was The Beatles. But we didn't know that just yet. Elvis kept up on what was happening in rock and roll in Britain and he had heard of the Beatles but I don't think any of us too them as seriously as we could have. Elvis was coming through the archives of the greatest Rock and Roll records ever made, looking for a song he wanted to record and make his own and playing demos for me up at the house.

Elvis, Buddy Knox, Jimmy Bowen, and the Rhythm Orchids, Bobby Darin, and me, were just a few of the early rock and rollers who were on The Ed Sullivan Show. And now it was the Beatles who would change the sound with appearances on television shows like Ed Sullivan. (Yes, Elvis sent them a congratulations telegram.)

Kennedy had been assassinated and the country was in despair. And while the Americans had first invaded Britain, now it was the British (they were called "the Brits" then, without offense) groups that would invade the United States.

PALEY CENTER for the MEDIA

Some day Wes and I are heading down to the Los Angeles based PALEY CENTER FOR THE MEDIA (there is a New York location too) to watch some old DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND SHOWS ... maybe some JACK PAAR ... or ED SULLIVAN.

OK, the truth is, I've already scanned their on-line catalogue and I don't think we are going to find "lost footage" of Wes Bryan's appearances on American Bandstand, or Jack Paar or the Ed Sullivan Show at the Paley Center. We're aware that the films, if any exists, may no longer be usable ... but I persist, and so I contact a number of archives around the country from time to time, hoping to be surprised.

We're linking here to PALEY CENTER FOR THE MEDIA!


Christine

JIMMY BOWEN and the RHYTHM ORCHIDS on ED SULLIVAN

This YouTube video is of Jimmy Bowen and the Rhythm Orchids on the Ed Sullivan show. That's Buddy Knox to the far left of the film. It's about 1955.


(THE VIDEO WAS REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE DUE TO COPYRIGHT CLAIM SO WE ARE REMOVING THE LINK!)

BEACH BOYS SURFIN USA

I believe this was their first Ed Sullivan appearance...

(40) The ED SULLIVAN SHOW : A VARIETY SHOW THAT MADE MUSIC HISTORY

The Ed Sullivan Show, broadcasting from New York City, was one of the most popular variety type television shows there was. Ed Sullivan was one of a kind. He had an attitude to him at times like he wasn't sure that he approved of the entertainers who had been booked on his show. And over time he became notorious for censorship, particularly when it came to Rock and Roll, be it Elvis Presley, or in years to come the Beatles, or the Doors. A lot of people know that Elvis Presley performed on The Ed Sullivan show, but believe it or not, so did I, and so did Buddy Knox and a number of my other friends.

Because Ed Sullivan had been warned that "Elvis The Pelvis" might offend Americans, Ed insisted on having Elvis filmed from the waistline up on his first show. When I performed on Ed Sullivan I was on my mark before he and I got a look at each other. Ed was worried that I might also offend Americans, but I sang "Tiny Spaceman," so there wasn't much of a chance of that. Here's some links to sites about Ed Sullivan that are sure to interest you!

Time/CNN The 100 Best Television Shows of All Time
(See the video of Ed with comedian Jerry Lewis)

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659188_1652093,00.html

Museum of Broadcast Communications - Ed Sullivan Show link above!

(39) JIMMY BOWEN and BUDDY KNOX

As I mentioned earlier, I first met Jimmy Bowen at a record hop in Akron, Ohio, where I took my demo record that I had made in a kitchen in Winston-Salem with some other kids. DJ. Art Roberts and Jimmy Bowen loved my little record. About that time Jimmy Bowen and Buddy Knox were recording together. I met Buddy Knox in New York after I was signed by United Artists Record label.

YouTube is a a popular Web video sharing site that lets anyone store short videos for private or public viewing. It was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim and it was acquired by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion, according to an article on PCMag.com's encyclopedia. We were looking at You-Tube and found these circa 1957 videos of Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen.

Enjoy these! They are music history!

BUDDY KNOX performing "Party Doll," his number one hit, and "Hula Love."

This is the Ed Sullivan television show according to Buddy's son Michael Knox!

VIDEO UPGRADED January 22, 2011