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!)

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