(484) MERLE TRAVIS : A FIXTURE AT AMERICAN MUSIC AND SONGWRITER FOR TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD

I met Merle Travis, the country western singer who they called a "guitar picker" and who came from the South - Kentucky,  when he came into American Music, the big song publishing house I worked for as a staff writer for several years when I first moved to Los Angeles!  I grew up in North Carolina and Oregon listening to Country music and never lost my enthusiasm for it.  Merle wrote songs and played on sessions for demos and became a fixture there.  Great man!

So many artists who went into performance careers have worked making demos, Bobby Darin, as I recently mentioned, made demos in the recording studios in the Brill Building, in New York City.  Glen Campbell made demos in Los Angeles, some for American Music.  I made demos while at American Music and also I made demo's for Pat Boone's company, Cooga- Mooga! 

Demo records of songs with hit potential were send out - sometimes hand delivered by people like me - to the recording artists that the writer had in mind for their listen.  Sometimes they piled up in a corner and months went by before one got a listen, so that personal connection was important.

 

DISCOGS PAGE FOR MERLE TRAVIS link

(408) LOUIS "LOU" HALMY : A WHIZZ IN THE BIZZ

LOU HALMY, a trumpeter born in Budapest Hungary, was one of my favorite people in the music business. He was also one of the most brilliant.

Lou had started out on the East Coast where he worked as a musician for "society" bands like Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra. (They played on"The Woodbury Hour With Bob Hope") and in the "The Big Broadcast of 1938," a movie with Bob Hope, W.C. Fields and Dorothy Lamour - the Great Depression era.

He worked for Bob Ross Music Publishing at the time I worked with him and did a lot of work for Pat Boone at the time too.

When I wrote a song, I would play it on the guitar for Lou. LOU WOULD WHISTLE THE SONG BACK TO ME. Then I knew he "got it." Based on his whistling, he would write the lead sheet and pass it on to one of the "copiers" who wrote the actual music sheet with notations. Lou was considered a professional whistler!

Lou could "authenticate" music. He had that audiographic memory, so he appeared in many court hearings where various people were trying to establish their rights to intellectual properties and other issues. He was an expert.

Lou passed away up in Oregon on March 14, 2005. He had been in the music business for about 75 years and was 94 years old! One of my favorite memories of Lou was him driving the car he had, a tiny MG with the fancy spokes.

PS: Lou had a giant record that sold excellent called "THE HAPPY WHISTLER!" The song was covered by a number of other artists.

(393) AMERICAN MUSIC : SYLVESTER CROSS DIES : I KEEP WORKING WITH BOONE AND CAPEHEART

1964 seemed like a happy time to me when I was living it, and in my memory.

We songwriters were not especially concerned about the effects of the so called British Invasion of the Beatles and other groups would have on our own careers. Shows like Shindig celebrated rock and roll in Great Britain and the United States and we had confidence in our talents and abilities.

But that year there was a big change coming for those of us who were on contract with American Music, the big music publishing house that I had come to Los Angeles to work for, where Jerry Capeheart, who once worked with Eddie Cochran and who had signed me on staff was my boss.

Sylvester Cross, the owner of American Music died. I'd signed a five year contract but it was cut short. We kept going to work until Sylvester's wife sold the American Music catalogue for a song (!) and shut down operations.

I kept working for Jerry and for Pat Boone, making demos.

(360) DEMO TREASURE CHEST! DAVID GATES, LEON RUSSEL, GLEN CAMPBELL, and ME

Here's a demo or two I would love to find and hear again!

Pat Boone paid for the session time.
David Gates was the arranger.
I was the producer.
Leon Russel played piano.
Glen Campbell and I did two instrumentals together.

I sang on two songs which were "20 Acres of Land," and "I'm Such a Fool."

Auctioneers and collectors!?

FABIAN BREAK DOWN AND CRY : 1962 : JIMMY BOWEN and WES BRYAN SONGWRITERS

FABIAN was hot and we were happy to place a song with him!

Recently we saw that this record, a promo copy and the LONDON -AMERICAN record put out in England were up for auction, and more, it finally showed up on Youtube!

Additional Notes March 23, 2011 Wes said, "Jimmy Bowen and I wrote "Break Down and Cry" with Frankie Avalon watching ... but we had Pat Boone in mind for this hit... Pat had just taken over the management of Fabian, and Jack Spena at Pat's company had also taken over Fabian management... "Break Down and Cry" was a strong song... Pat Boone felt it would fit Fabian better."

(332) PLACES TO GO THINGS TO DO : ELVIS & HIS GUYS

I was a frequent guest at Elvis' when he lived in Los Angeles which was during his movie making years. I had some of the best times of my life in those years! I was also a staff song writer at American Music and involved in the demo making process for American Music and Pat Boone's company, Cooga-Mooga. Seems my whole life had become about music by then!

When Elvis' guys came down into town from Bel Air, we'd meet up to watch a show, have a meal, sit around a talk or play music after work. The guys were called "His Guys" or "The Entourage" then. These guys were a lot of fun to be with, and some of them had active interest in songwriting or acting, though most of them lived their lives around their working for Elvis. They were living the life of a millionaire, but once in a while they would take a break and get away.

We had favorite clubs and restaurants where we met up with my songwriter colleagues. We liked the Palomino Club in the Valley, which became one of our hang outs. Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood was where we hung out. Cliff Gleaves prefered it and Trini Lopez would come in. We liked the Carolina Pines restaurant. We liked the Whisky A Go Go on Sunset.

Elvis was now too famous to just stop into a diner or a club, though there were a few he still went to. Sometimes he would just drive Sunset in his Rolls Royce.

(296) SUNSET STRIP RECORD COMPANIES : DOT RECORDS

Pat Boone was the star of Dot Records, owned by Randy Wood, a Southerner, who may've been more open to talent from the South. According to Mike Callahan and Dave Edwards, who we are linking to here, he had over 60 hits on Dot, as late as 1968. While working for Pat and in and out of Randy's offices I met Lawrence Welk's son. Thanks to this YouTuber who loaded up three of Pat's earliest Dot Records recordings!

I FEEL LIKE CRYING : PAT BOONE ON LONDON AMERICAN RECORDINGS

(291) PAT BOONE records I FEEL LIKE CRYING

When I was first in New York there had been a comparison of my voice with Pat Boone's. Then, while in Los Angeles, I was recruited by Pat to work for his company as a demo maker and songwriter. Pat recording this song (and "Wishing Again") which was written by Red West and me. (Today I Feel Like Crying is on Pat's album "The Fifties - Complete.")
So I was working for Pat's publishing company, Cooga Mooga, and Pat was not only recording, but producing, and interested in presenting songs to other singers. Guess who I wanted to record this song? Perry Como!

As you may know from reading my blog, when it came to the crooners Perry Como was one of my favorites. And while working for Pat, I was introduced to Perry through Jack Spena.

(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!

(280) STATE FAIR - PAT BOONE - ANN-MARGRET - BOBBY DARIN

The movie STATE FAIR, which came out in 1962, stared my friend Bobby Darin, as well as Pat Boone. I'd begun to work with and for at Pat's production company called Cooga Mooga.

One more person who we'll be blogging a bit about in the future, someone all Elvis Presley fans know to be very important to his story, the exciting singer, dancer, and actress Ann-Margret, also stared in this film.

We're linking to the IMDB on State Fair as a link so click on the title above if you want to go there!

Here's Ann singing with Pat...

(275) AHNA CAPRI

I met Ahna Capri around town, at Elvis', and in Pat Boone's office. (She was in a movie with him!)

There were so many beautiful women with great personalities and Ahna was one of those. She also had a good sense of humor about herself.

Christine White, Anne Helm, and Tuesday Weld; this generation of actresses were hard working, often hired actresses, who started in television and made films too.

Some of them were famous in their time. By that I mean they were making it into the fan magazines early in their careers and then as the years went by they began to do "character" roles.

Ahna's IMDB database resume is our link here: you'll wonder if you haven't seen her work on Baretta with Robert Blake or another show.

(184) PAT BOONE MIGHT'VE BEEN ELVIS' BIGGEST COMPETITOR ! 12 GOLD RECORDS BY 1961

My voice had once been compared to his...You may find this hard to believe today, but there was one person who was better liked during the early Rock and Roll era by the general public than Elvis, and that was Pat Boone, who never did have that dark edge of a Rock-a-billy artist that Elvis had and had a wider audience.

Now friends, we're still in the cover tune era here, so you'll find if you look at who recorded what and when you'll find that songs that Pat recorded were later recorded by other artists we mention. For instance, Pat recorded "Moody River," in 1961 and the next year Johnny Burnette recorded it. So do you think I was pitching songs to Pat?

You'd better believe it. Pat started his own publishing company called Cooga Mooga! (Guess who eventually did some work for Pat there?)

Here's Pat on the Lawrence Welk show singing "Moody River," and then Johnny Burnette's 1962 version, as presented by YouTube video-ers. As Lawrence mentions, Pat had 12 Gold Records by the time he did this show.

Pat Boone on the Welk singing "Moody River."

Johnny Burnette covering "Moody River," (and sounding very Elvis-like.)

Now a little later, when Frank Sinatra gets his own label, Reprise, he records "Moody River" too. Here's his swinging 60's version. My co-worker at American Music, Jimmy Bowen went to Reprise as Frank's producer.

No replacement for Johnny Burnette. Frank's version of "Moody River." VIDEOS RELACED APRIL 2011

(152) STATE FAIR - A ROCK AND ROLL MOVIE

Gene Vincent, in that interview we posted recently, mentioned that he was going to the states to do the movie called "State Fair." This was a rock and roll movie, young and hip, and guess who else was in it? My friend Bobby Darin, as well as Pat Boone and Ann-Margret.

Go to the IMDB movie database STATE FAIR link above!

Now, take a look at this YouTube video that features the sexy Ann with someone who you might be surprised did a bare-chested love scene with her - Pat Boone! Yea, really!

(139) PAT BOONE's 1961 #1 HIT MOODY RIVER

You may recall from an early blog that my voice was being compared to Pat Boone's. Well Pat was out in Los Angeles - another Southern boy from Nashville, Tennessee - before I moved out and his career was doing really well. In 1961 he had a #1 hit with "Moody River."

THIS BLOG POST UPDATED MAY 26, 2010 by Christine Trzyna

NEW! A link to PAT BOONE's OFFICIAL WEB SITE and YouTube presented videos of Pat on the Lawrence Welk show when he had 12 number one hits to his name already!

(138) MY PEERS AND THEIR CELEBRITY

Friends, the next several blogs are meant to help you keep Elvis, me, and our peers in musical perspective.

While I was working at the songwriting factory, ambitious to write songs that would be hits for other artists, people like Gene Vincent, Bobby Darin, Ersel Hickey, The Everly Brothers, Pat Boone, and Dion and the Bellmonts, continued to perform, make records, and have hits. I was so proud to know them and to be associated with them. I knew that keeping celebrity was more difficult than becoming one. And though Melodie D'Amour had done well and I promoted it with live performances and radio interviews, bit by bit I was receding from public life even as the Hollywood bug continued to bite me.

(93) PAT BOONE SWINGS WITH JINGLE BELLS

These days when a Christmas album comes out, some people figure that the artist has just figured out a way to capitalize and fulfill the last album of their contract. But in the early 1960's people weren't so skeptical, especially if they knew that the singer of those songs had true Christian faith, as Elvis Presley did, and as PAT BOONE did.

Another artist besides Elvis who is always associated with Christmas is Pat Boone. Here's a very swinging "Jingle Bells," a YouTube presentation that I can't date. Pat recorded a number of Christian songs in his time and is better known for them.

See our previous posts on Pat and our link on the side bar to Pat's Official Web Site and links to vote him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Just use the search feature on the blog to find these posts!

Here's a YouTube video of Pat and a boy's choir singing the more religious "Silent Night."

(88) RED WEST / MUSICAL TALENT and THE ENTOURAGE

Recently I overheard a slew of slander against Elvis' men - The Entourage. Since The Entourage was an ever changing group of men, this character didn't know who - or what he was talking about.

Characterized with that prejudice against Southerns as rude, crude, overgrown frat boys, and a bunch of "dummies," the man went on and on.

There was a time when I decked a guy at a news stand for making fun of Elvis - the Elvis who was once called "The Hillbilly Hepcat." Prejudice!

I can tell you that Elvis respected intelligence and that a few men in the entourage where college educated. He wasn't an education snob though. He was successful without higher education and he never judged a person by it.

Elvis also loved to be surrounded by musical people. Besides Cliff Gleaves, the funny man, entourage member Red West, best known as one of Elvis' bodyguards, also had recorded and had musical talent and songwriting ability.

Red West and I wrote a couple songs together, one called "I Feel Like Crying," and another called "Don't You Cry." We pitched them and sold them to Pat Boone, who still owns the publishing on it, at his publishing house Cooga Mooga.

NEW LINK 2011 Above : Rockabilly RED WEST on Rockin' Country Style.

(35) FREEZE! A DANCE CRAZE SPARKED ON AMERICAN BANDSTAND BY THIS "SINGING - ACTING SENSATION"

I played live at record hops, accompanying myself on a guitar, and when I was on television performing, I sang either live or along with a recording. I never just lip sync-ed (silently moved my lips) to a tune and as a result I kept my voice honed. Having to perform live, with no technology to cover your mistakes, meant having to be your best at all times. There was no slacking off. Touring was grueling and I often suffered from sleep deprivation, but being your best at all times also meant clean living. Though years later I would realize that some of my peers had begun to take drugs to keep going, for the most part the ones I associated with at the time kept drinking to a minimum and relied on their youthful energy to keep going!

I had lost all shyness of performing. I was better than ever! My confidence had grown as I traveled and met people all around the country and from all walks of life. I felt myself to be part of the vital New York music scene too. I had begun writing songs and presenting them to my peers. Besides my own hit songs, I performed many of the popular Rockabilly and early Rock and Roll songs of my era.

In the summer of 1958, on the United Artists record label, I put out another single. This one had "Wait for Me Baby," on one side, and a song called "Freeze," on the other.

Once again I made an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show, performing "Freeze." It seemed that my first appearance on Dick Clark's, singing "Tiny Spaceman," with a prop flying saucer going around my head, had been an eon ago - when it had been a bit more than a year.

Now "Freeze" was meant to be a record hop - dance party tune. When I sang the word "freeze!" the kids on the dance floor would stop for a moment wherever they were. It was like vogue-ing, late 1950's style. The song started a bit of dance craze around the nation!

(My writing partner, Christine, has a memory of learning this dance as a kid. She says a neighbor's mom owned an old copy and her friends played the record while they ran through the lawn sprinklers! Their idea was to stick someone else in the sprinkler for a moment at freeze!)

Now at this point Elvis Presley was over in Germany in the United States Army. He had the opportunity to be part of Special Services and spend his time there as an entertainer but Elvis (some say Colonel Tom Parker chose this for him) chose to be regular army. Elvis was granted the privilege of living off base and rented a house over there, and he had some of his favorite companions come over there to keep him company including Cliff Gleaves, the hep cat DJ, who clicked his fingers and joked "We have James Dean in the car with us," about me. Officially autographing was kept to an hour or so every day, when Elvis was in residence.

I, like just about everyone else, kept reading the fan magazines, to keep up on Elvis, but also to keep up on the competition. Frankie Avalon - Fabian - Pat Boone. Meanwhile Elvis kept up on us. He was very worried about Fabian as his competition. He had magazines, demo-records, the top 40, and even movies brought over so he wouldn't loose touch with what was happening in the United States.

Frankie Avalon was a friend of mine in New York. His dad came to town from Philadelphia to visit and we all went out to dinner. Despite my success with "Freeze!" Frankie was one of my singer-songwriter peers - and another fellow who was being marketed as a "Singing-Acting Sensation" - who urged me to consider changing labels. Believe it or not, I too was up for the parts he got as a beach boy! Frankie, Buddy Knox, and some others, felt that I could be doing more with my career, even as the whole Next James Dean promotion continued to propel me forwards. They felt that United Artists Records was just too new at the music business and as for my acting career - well, it had stalled out for reasons I can't reveal here - but it was stalled.

Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, had enough records to put out while Elvis was in Germany to keep the fans thinking of - and buying - Elvis. Throughout Elvis' time in Germany he and I passed hellos and good wishes through people we knew in common. I think we were all waiting to see what would happen when Elvis returned to the States.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2011

FREEZE HAS APPEARED ON YOUTUBE! THANKS FRIEND!

(16) AND THE COMPARISONS CONTINUED ... Some said I sounded like PAT BOONE!

So, I looked like James Dean, but meanwhile my voice was being compared to the successful singer (and clean-living Christian) Pat Boone's!

Link toPAT BOONE's OFFICIAL SITE above!

Pat's a successful author with his book out this year called "Pat Boone's America," and you can vote for him to be included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at this link:

www.backpat.org Petition to get Pat into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

VIDEO ADDED January 19, 2011