WES BRYAN MY LIFE IN MUSIC - TECHNOLOGY UPDATE - STATS and CTNWB OUR YOUTUBE STATION!

It's April 2014 and we're slowly updating this Google Blog, which has been written since  August 2007 and in that time has gotten a number of expired links, YouTube videos, and so on.  Eventually we will replace all expired videos with new ones that have no commercials, as possible and rethink our CTNWB station.  (Someone else has a YouTube station called WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC which has no relationship with us.)

We take pride in this project, know that some of you use it for research, and want it to stand as a useful, informative, and beautiful Blog! 

In summer 2009 Google installed a simple stat's function on all Bloggers, and since then we give it a look once in a while.  As of April 8 2014 Google is reporting that we've enjoyed 63,703 hits. 

One of the things that's come up is that from time to time some other stats company shows up or sneaks up and broadcasts its take on our stats as well its take on the selling price of the blog - which isn't for sale! These are commercial enterprises that we have no relationship with.

And we would never agree that the total value of a blog is all about hits anyway!  How can you put a price on a teenager reading about Eddie Cochran for the first time or evaluate the treasure of a free paper doll of Elvis Presley from Dover Publications or the connection an old friend has made?

Never once since it's happened that a strange stats company has reported stats to the world have they been equal to the stats Google Blogger reports, which is always many more hits to the blog.  Of course, we never did write just to get stats.  But we trust Google over these other stat companies.

We've stayed to our subject pretty much with is EARLY ROCK AND ROLL, ROCKABILLY, THE COVER TUNE ERA, THE SINGER SONGWRITER SCENE, THE BRITISH INVASION of AMERICA and the AMERICAN INVASION OF BRITAIN.  We've never intended to cover the entire history of Rock and Roll!  Just like the title says this is WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC!

We notice hits from a variety of countries and on which posts seem to be the most interesting to our readers and it is fascinating to know that someone on a computer from some lesser known location of the world reads us - thus the THANK YOU to our READERSHIP posts.  We never post a country that Google hasn't shown us to be reading.  So even as we do this update, we've got about 1500 hits a month... on older posts and newer.

AND WE THANK YOU for READING WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC!

******

Here is a partial list of countries from which readers make it to our site!

First the top 10 as of today...

United States
Russia
Germany
United Kingdom
Canada
France
Netherlands
Ukraine
Spain
Australia

WE NOTE THAT THE READERSHIP FROM SPAIN IS MUCH MORE RECENT!

We are also enjoying hits from:
China
Brazil
India
Sweden
Italy
Malaysia
Finland
Portugal
Algeria
Malta
United Arab Emerits
South Korea
New Zealand
Argentina
Bulgaria
Poland...

and many other countries!

YOUTUBE VIDEOS and OUR STATION CTNWB and WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC

When we first started including YouTube Videos on our blog WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC we did so tentatively.  We waited a while, not sure of what the Intellectual Properties situation was and then, reading around the subject, we began to include videos.

Today we can't image our blog without these videos, which are presented by others on YouTube.

It takes a lot of work to make a collection of videos on YouTube and to have a station and WE REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THAT WORK! 

Of hundreds of videos we have embedded in our blog we have only experienced maybe once or twice where someone objected.  Although we don't often comment on YouTube, we often feel as if YouTube video stations are our partners in this effort, especially the ones that post historical music videos of the early days of Rock and Roll.

However, since then Google has purchased YouTube and the emphasis seems to be on ads...  very annoying interruptive ads. 

How much can anyone take?

As we update this blog, sometimes we click on a dozen or more videos looking for that hold out who refuses to put advertising on his or her videos!

Because this blog is not commercial, we will do everything we can to use only those videos that HAVE NO COMMERCIALS!  That means that as we update both our blog and our channel, old videos may not always have the perfect match to the original post. 


THANKS FOR LISTENING!

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE - WES BRYAN - DECEMBER 9, 1957

GOOGLE BOOKS WES BRYAN - BILLBOARD MAGAZINE PROMO PHOTO AND RECORD DISTRIBUTOR INFO  showing Wes Bryan and Joe Valino...

Goes right to the UNITED ARTISTS PROMO of HOLLYWOOD'S LATEST DISCOVERY!

(56) BUDDY KNOX : AN INTELLECTUAL and A GENTLEMAN : FROM THE WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC ARCHIVES

POST (56) BUDDY KNOX : AN INTELLECTUAL and A GENTLEMAN from the WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC ARCHIVES

October 24, 2007  

Now friends, I've gone off on a tangent about Elvis returning to the United States, at a time when I was on the Buddy Knox tour. It was great to be there when Elvis got off the train, to be part of the party at Graceland TM, and to be considered an actual friend of Elvis' Presley and a few of his friends, people who made it happen for him.

But I want to tell you nothing made me prouder than to be associated with a Rockabilly Superstar like Buddy professionally. When Buddy said "You're coming on the road with me," he was including me in on the road to success.

 

As I said on an earlier post about the plane crash that killed the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox and I were forced to confront our own mortality because of it. We were grateful to have a tour that was the top of the line with a plush tour bus and a caravan of cars. We had bookings in fine dinner clubs and the best of venues to perform. They had been on buses that broke down and were only trying to make up travel time taking that plane. Jerry Lee Lewis' tour bus was a gray painted school bus, hardly plush at all, despite his success with "Great Balls of Fire."

We shared driving a car and hotel and motel rooms along the way, while the musicians lived out of the tour bus. It could be grueling, but Buddy and I, and the musicians we traveled with lived clean. We didn't do speed to stay awake, but relied on our youthful energy and zeal for entertaining. Despite the obvious stress he always treated the musicians in his band with kindness and courtesy.

Before it was all over we toured in 47 of the fifty states, skipping Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah - because the Mormons (now the Latter Day Saints) objected to Rock and Roll. We would tour for about two years, using New York City for our breaks, sharing hotel rooms along the way and in New York.
 

Buddy performed "Party Doll," "Hula Love," and a number of other songs that he had hits with. He liked to go on first, then sit back and enjoy the show. Between his performance and mine, the band played. We got people up and dancing and everyone had a great time of it.

 

Buddy Knox was an intellectual, a gentleman, and more than all that, a decent human being. He treated people from all walks of life the same and his generous spirit was always evident. He tended to leave big tips.

Sometimes he and I would walk into a diner and the waitresses would ask us if we were the Everly Brothers. (We didn't look like brothers, but brothers as singing duos were popular then.)

Buddy would say "Have you heard of Buddy Knox?"

The waitresses would say something like "Yea, He has Party Doll!"

Buddy would introduce himself, and then play a couple numbers for the whole diner, which thrilled everyone. He signed autographs and he still left big tips.

Rockin Country Style Discography - BUDDY KNOX
 

RCS DISCOGRAPHY - BUDDY KNOX
 

Link above to Buddy Knox's official site. (His great son Michael is behind this site.)

Rockabilly Hall of Fame on Buddy Knox

ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME - BUDDY KNOX PAGE - UPDATED

Living closely as we had to, Buddy Knox and I became close friends on tour. When he married my father and I attended. I was in his wedding party. I am so proud to have known Buddy Knox. He truly was one of the good guys in Rock and Roll!

 

When Buddy was dying in 1999, he said to his son Michael, "Don't let them forget me." Michael promised.

I promise too Buddy.

ELVIS PRESLEY : OH HOW I LOVE JESUS

Several home recordings of Elvis and friends singing at his house have emerged on YouTube in recent months, and this is one of them.  Because this blog focus isn't on Gospel Music, though you can pull up the Gospel Music Association in a previous post, we haven't written much about Elvis and Gospel music, but he loved Gospel music, and I have memories of those times when he sang Gospel - even at parties.  He could bring tears to your eyes.

(485) DION : ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN (DICK HOLLER SONGWRITER) ON THE SMOTHER'S BROTHERS TV SHOW

So proud of Dion, known for his early Rock and Roll hit "Run Around Sue," when he hit the charts in 1968 with this song, "Abraham, Martin, and John," a song written by Dick Holler.  It's become a classic tribute to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and President John F. Kennedy.


Link to DION DI MUCCI : OFFICIAL

 "Music Critics say he is the only first-generation rock and roll artist who  has remained creative and relevant through the decades. In 1958 He had three top-forty hits. In 2007 He was nominated for a Grammy. His last three albums have some of his best work.

Dion and his music represent a special time and place . . .  a moment when a song could mean so much and a singer could sum up what it means to be young, in love and on top of the world.

A street poet and singer of extraordinary versatility, range and resonance, Dion defined Rock 'n' Roll for a generation."

Use the Google Search feature embedded in this blog to pull up past posts on Dion as well as the Smothers Brothers!

HERE IS THE SONGWRITERS VERSION:

KEEP ON HANGING ON WITH US AS WE CHANGE THE DESIGN OF OUR BLOG

Hello Loyal Fans!  We had a technology glitch the other day that wiped out one of our Pages, and now we're trying to make some design changes. Keep on Hanging on with us!  Thanks!

PS: We'd love some feedback...  The design is set for MEDIUM text and Zoom at 100%.  Changing either factor may result in seeing the blog a different way.  If your settings are on MEDIUM text and Zoom at 100% and it still looks odd, please leave a comment and LET US KNOW WHAT BROWSER YOU'RE USING!  
Thanks!

WES BRYAN MY LIFE IN MUSIC E-MAIL HACKED

On June 16th 2013 (two days ago - Fathers Day) our entire contact list was e-mailed from our YAHOO account, indicating the account was hacked.  Those of you who have been in e-mail contact with us from that account will be recieving a new private e-mail from us.  If you got an e-mail from that account DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK that is offered which begins with the word garden in the June 16th, 2013 message.  The message and any message like it IS NOT FROM US.

The hacking will be reported and investigated by the Internet crime unit, while we do damage control from our end.  (You always wonder why someone would risk local, federal,  and sometimes even international criminal charges just to prove they can hack! but as they say "it takes all kinds.") 

For some time we offered you an e-mail address to contact us by and though we had the usual PONZI SCHEME OFFERS, the account was secure.  At this point, we will no longer offer an e-mail account to contact us.  You can still leave a comment and provide your own e-mail address along with a message and we'll go from there.

GOOGLE READER - RSS FEED - WILL GO DOWN JULY 1 2013

Just to keep our followers and other friends and readers up to the latest in Google Blogger History!

Google has announced that the Google Reader, and RSS feed features which some of you use to read this and other blogs, will be history (go down permanently as far as anyone knows) in about 2 weeks, on July 1, 2013.

There are other RSS Readers out there and we will post ON THIS POST if there are any recommendations or suggestions about those products or services. *****

You can always go Old School and BOOKMARK this site.

If you use word search on Google, Yahoo, Bing, or any other SEARCH ENGINE, we are aware of another half dozen or so WES BRYANs out there.  We suggest "WES BRYAN MUSIC" as the best word choice.

WE HAVE BLOGGED USING FREE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FROM THE VERY BEGINNING and we are grateful for the opportunity to do so.  However, even some of the world's richest companies sometimes decide that a free product or service is not worth it to them to continue.

While we're at it, we know we miss - and you probably do too - our wonderful slideshow of stars which was one of the products we have also used for free as provided by PHOTOBUCKET.

Well, we put up the Valentine's version of that slideshow this year, and a week later, when we went in to take down the Valentines there was no longer any EDITING OPTION.  Not only that, there is no longer any option to make NEW SLIDESHOWS!  PHOTOBUCKET IS ALLOWING US TO PRESENT THE SLIDESHOWS (the moving boxes) that we already made and posted.  For this we are grateful!

Hopefully we can soon reinstall a slideshow!

Christine

***** Update : We're being told that FEEDLY and DIGG will have readers.  FEEDLY is an option now, DIGG in the near future.

WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC : RIGHTS INFORMATION

Though it most often goes without saying, and we post a notice like this one in our Pages, once in a while we post a notice like this one in our posts.  We want to reminds readers that the content of this blog is Copyright Wes Bryan and Christine Trzyna with all rights reserved including Internet and International Rights.

We are linking to a good many web sites, favoring the official web sites of various famous and important musical artists 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 (you can always leave a comment), and we'll take down the link. The content of other people's sites remains their own.

We also appreciate hearing about any link that is down or video that has been removed from its source, such as YouTube!

Thank you for your consideration and courtesy!

Christine Trzyna  and Wes Bryan

GOOGLE READER CANCELS FREE RSS READER SERVICE

MAC OBSERVER : GOOGLE GIVES USERS WHAT THEY PAY FOR  link to full article!

Google is going to stop providing the RSS Feed Reader Service that a few of you are using to read Wes Bryan - My Life in Music.

Quote, "Google Reader is the company's online service for managing and viewing RSS feeds. RSS, or Real Simple Syndication, is a system that lets websites and podcasts push content to users instead of requiring them to visit sites to check for updated news and other content. Reader gave users a way to manage their feeds and easily sync those feeds between multiple devices."

Several other Google products are mentioned in this article as also being cancelled as well as some option suggestions.

In previous articles on the net, from various sources, it has been noted that people are reconsidering their Internet Time.  We understand.  We are also limited when it comes to the amount of time we can spend on the Internet so we are honored to know how many of you do visit a post or two of our Google Blogger. 

Thanks Again for Reading WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC!

WATCHING THE E-BAY AUCTIONS FOR WES BRYAN "MEMORABILIA"

We watch the e-Bay auctions from time to time to see what's for sale up there under the "Wes Bryan" heading.  When we first started to blog, there were just a few Wes Bryans with web presence.  There was the DJ, the Christian Minister, and a Real Estate developer.

Now there are several more, with Facebook, Twitter, and other accounts, and on e-Bay, under the Wes Bryan, search comes some items related to the football player, Wes Bryan. 

So we're glad we titled this blog WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC, to separate all those Wes Bryans out a bit! 

In the last weeks, to our surprise there has been a lot of e-Bay action on Wes Bryan records and pictures from the beginning of my United Artist singing - acting sensation days, including a Hep Cat magazine, pictures of me in Central Park and sculpting (these were taken by my then manager and used as part of the United Artists promotions), as well as pressings of my songs that I recorded at Roulette in New York City, some of which made it to be re-pressed in England for London American Recordings, demos and the final products sold in stores.  The bidding action was heavy on these with sales at over $35.00 per item.  Interesting!

(443) THE DRIFTERS : WHITE CHRISTMAS DOO WOP! WORLD TOUR FOR 60TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2012

DRIFTERS OFFICIAL SITE ! link here

We posted the Drifter's "Up On The Roof" which reminds me so much of my early New York City days, some time ago, but realized we hadn't linked to their official site and when we did - the announcement of a 60th anniversary World Tour!

The Drifters® celebrate their 60th Anniversary with the Diamond Dynasty World Tour 2013.

"Preparations for the 60th Anniversary World Tour are well underway, The Drifters® are proud to present their Diamond Dynasty World Tour to celebrate this auspicious occasion. Our web site is currently undergoing massive redevelopment and we are excited to announce that it will be launched on January 1st 2013 as part of the Drifters® 60th Anniversary year."

CHANGE IN PUBLISHING TIMES - WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC

We will be publishing any posts that appear on Saturday or Sunday and some Holidays at 1:09 Pacific Coast Time and will continue to publish posts that appear on weekdays at 7:09 PM except for the rare occasions when we run a "Celebration" of a particular artist and want to post throughout the day on him or her or them!

Let's give it a try!

Christine and Wes

HELLO TO OUR READERS AROUND THE WORLD - FANS OF EARLY ROCK AND ROLL !

Hello to Sweden, Brazil, Austria, United Kingdom, Mexico, and Nepal! (Yes Nepal!)

As always, we hope you're listening along with us, reading along with us, and checking out some of the links to the artists that we blog about... Let us know if you read us in English, or use the Google Translator and what language you read this blog in.

NEW GOOGLE TRANSLATER INSTALLED : GIVE IT A TRY!

Friends, we've installed the newest GADGET provided by GOOGLE, which should translate WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC with all the latest bells and whistles working. GIVE IT A TRY. FOR NOW IT'S AT THE TOP OF THE SIDE BAR. GIVE IT A TRY EVEN IF YOU READ IN ENGLISH. Report back to us, please! Christine

SAYING HELLO TO OUR INTERNATIONAL READERS! CANADA and POLAND HAVE BEEN HITTING THIS SITE LIKE CRAZY!

As you know, we do our best to post interesting information, historical music videos, a few good pictures, and a bit about my life in the music business, starting as a singer, then singer-songwriter, then music producer. I've had an uncommon life and decided to write about it but several years ago I was shocked to find out that Rockin Country Style (RCS) and the on line Rockabilly Hall of Fame mentioned me. Me on the Internet? It took some getting used to.

Christine Trzyna and I wrote for a long time before Google installed some basic statistical info gadgets on blogs and we find the data that comes up kind of interesting.

Christine, who is an American with Polish ancestors, tells me that suddenly a lot more readers are coming to the site from Canada and Poland. We think the Canadian hits are a result of Ted Stauton's record lable history site which we've posted on with links to his recent Wes Bryan page. (We thank you again Ted!) She likes the idea that there are Polish rock and roll fans checking in especially because she hopes to visit Poland someday. She went to the Polish festival here in Los Angeles last year at one of the oldest Catholic churches in the country and got to hear "The Polish Elvis" who came in from Chicago. She said he had a great voice and she gave him our contact info but he never got in touch after he left town.

We appreciate hearing from our readers and we want to thank you again for keeping us in mind - we know you only have so much time to get on the net. In the last year top hits came from USA, Germany, UK, Russia, Canada, Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland, and Australia. In the last month it was USA, Canada, Russia, Germany, Poland, Italy, France, Sweden, Brazil, and UK. In the last week or so it was USA, Russia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Japan, Canada, and Columbia. In the last few days Finland and India have been checking in too! We even got one hit from Uganda!

It makes us happy...

HELLO TO BULGARIA and POLAND !

Just looking at our statistical information to see where our readership is coming from over the last day or so as we slide into 2012, and are reminded that we've been making new friends all around the world who are united in our interest in early rock and roll, the cover tune era, the singer-songwriter scene, and the American Invasion of Britain!


We were happy to post this blog back in 2007 when we were thrilled if we had 50 or 100 readers a month and now we have so many more readers.
Our readership numbers go up and down but just so you know, about 1750 people hit on posts in the last 30 days, not so bad for the holiday season which is usually a down time.


Over that period, the countries that checked in with us the most were the United States, followed by Russia, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Poland, Australia, Germany, and Bulgaria, with Bulgaria and Poland showing the greatest increase in interest. The greatest interest has been over this time, not surprisingly, in James Dean and Elvis Presley, followed by any link we make on Wes Bryan, but we can tell that fans of Johnny Rivers and other musical artists of are checking in too.

If you have any helpful suggestions for us (and we are still open to videos and information on rockabilly artists circa 2012) please leave a comment or email us! We want to keep this blog interesting, on topic, and open minded.
We'll be on one of our "technology update" vacations for the next week or two, working behind the scenes to meet our blogging goals and keep up the archives and will be back to you for our celebration of Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly!

Christine and Wes