(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.

JIMMY BOWEN : SINGER SONGWRITER AND FAMOUS MUSIC PRODUCER TO BE (307) FROM OUR ARCHIVES

FROM OUR ARCHIVES POST (307) JIMMY BOWEN : SINGER SONGWRITER AND FAMOUS MUSIC PRODUCER TO BE! from April 26 2010.


JIMMY BOWEN figures in my story from way back. I met Jimmy Bowen while he was passing through Akron, Ohio. He took me to a record hop there, where my first record was played. It was a record I home made in Winston-Salem without a label so it could not be played on the radio legally.

Jimmy Bowen and Buddy Knox had a group called The Rhythm Orchids. (They started out wearing light purple shirts when they played!) Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen were both Texas boys. Jimmy played a stand up bass, an instrument that featured in early rock and roll but soon disappeared from road performances.

Eventually I would perform with Jimmy on the road while on Roulette Records. I was on the Buddy Knox tour but I would occasionally meet up with Jimmy's tour.

The two of us showed up to work at American Music in Los Angeles. The two of us wrote some songs together... including "Break Down and Cry" which was recorded by Fabian and "Don't Stay Away" which was recorded by Jerry Fuller.

JIMMY BOWEN : MY BABY'S GONE : FLIP SIDE OF BUDDY KNOX'S PARTY DOLL

JIMMY BOWEN and the RHYTHM ORCHIDS : "My Baby's Gone" was the flip side of fellow Rhythm Orchid BUDDY KNOX'S hit "Party Doll." Jimmy was instrumental in my early career as far back as Akron, Ohio. This song is one of many I remember from touring in the late 1950's. The Rhythm Orchids formed when Jimmy and Buddy and Don Lanier met at West Texas State College. Jimmy played stand up base, Donny played lead guitar, and David Alldred, who they first met when they recorded with Norman Petty, played drums.

(413) DICK CLARK AMERICAN BANDSTAND - I PERFORMED ON THE SHOW THREE TIMES

The first time I performed on Dick Clark -American Bandstand I went to Philadephia, where I performed "Tiny Spaceman," and "Lonesome Love" in two separate spots.

The second time I performed on Dick Clark - American Bandstand I performed "Melodie D'Amour" and "I Guess I'll Never Know," (the song posted a couple down) in two separate spots.

The third time I performed on Dick Clark - American Bandstand I performed "Freeze."

Clips of these songs are on the left sidebar of this blog, in the Audio Gallery.

Dick's wife Kari was looking for some old films of me on the show, which I don't know still exist. Dick was so much a part of the music business and promotions for so many years, his life touched the lives of thousands of people. I'm one of them.

WES BRYAN : I GUESS I'LL NEVER KNOW

"Freeze" was the first song I wrote and recorded while on United Artists. When I was on Clock I wrote and recorded "So Blue Over You." This was the first song I wrote and recorded while on Roulette, my second record label where I was signed by Morris Levy. I'm pleased to find this one on YouTube!

(307) JIMMY BOWEN - SINGER SONGWRITER and FAMOUS MUSIC PRODUCER TO BE !

JIMMY BOWEN figures in my story from way back. I met Jimmy Bowen while he was passing through Akron, Ohio. He took me to a record hop there, where my first record was played. It was a record I home made in Winston-Salem without a label so it could not be played on the radio legally.

Jimmy Bowen and Buddy Knox had a group called The Rhythm Orchids. (They started out wearing light purple shirts when they played!) Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen were both Texas boys. Jimmy played a stand up bass, an instrument that featured in early rock and roll but soon disappeared from road performances.

Eventually I would perform with Jimmy on the road while on Roulette Records. I was on the Buddy Knox tour but I would occasionally meet up with Jimmy's tour.

The two of us showed up to work at American Music in Los Angeles. The two of us wrote some songs together... including "Break Down and Cry" which was recorded by Fabian and "Don't Stay Away" which was recorded by Jerry Fuller.

We're linking here to CMT (COUNTRY MUSIC) pages for Jimmy Bowen who has been recording with the band SANTA FE - back to his roots in music! And the next few videos will be a little Jimmy Bowen music festival!

From JOHN LENNON by PHILIP NORMAN : ROULETTE RECORDS's MORRIS LEVY

quotes from pages 745-746 hardback edition of Philip Norman's JOHN LENNON biography...

Christine Trzyna here.

In WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC, we've mentioned a number of early rock and roll managers. One of them is Morris Levy, who both Wes Bryan and Buddy Knox had dealings with in the late 1950's and early 1960's. At they time he was the Roulette Records guy. In this book we learn that Morris Levy also had a deal with John Lennon. In 1975 John still owed Morris an album.

"To show that he and his band were not slipping back into old L.A. ways, he (John Lennon) broke an iron rule and sent Levy several tracks in a rough mix. But, tired of waiting around for his royalty cut, the Octopus issued the unfinished tracks as an album on his own Adam VIII label, titling it Roots:John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits, jacketing it with a garish head shot from the Let it Be Era and marketing it as a cheap-shot TV special offer. The result was a second round of litigating, with Levy suing John for defaulting on the judgement from their earlier court case and John counter suing for release of inferior product under his name without his authorization.'

"... On the witness stand, according to Bob Gruen, "John had to explain why a rough-mix tape was not meant to be sold on the market, and he ...described the difference between that and a final mix and how it was made.... He was incredibly clear and coherent and I remember thinking, if I was a musician this was the best description I could possible have."

John Lennon was awarded more than $144,700 and succeeded in having the Adam VIII compilation withdrawn from sale.

"Rush released before too many TV viewers could send their money to Morris Levy, John's fully mixed album was entitled simply Rock and Roll. Buyers who were expecting a straight nostalgia trip in the current mode were in for a surprise. Some of the tracks, like Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sure" and gene Vincents "Be Bop-a Lula," certainly were just as he used to play them with the Quarrymen and first -draft Beatles in Liverpool and Hamburg. Others, like Bobby Freeman's "Do you Want to Dance?" and Larry Williams, "Bony Maronie" were slowed down almost beyond recognition; Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen," seemed to have collided with the Coasters' "Little Egypt," while "You Cant' Catch Me" sounded like the Beatles "Come Together"....

MELODIE D'AMOUR LISTEN TO IT ON EBAY NOW

No friends, I'm not selling my personal record collection on e-bay. This seller has it rigged up that when you go to their auction you get to hear me sing, so click on the title above if you're interested and once there click on the record icon! (This is a picture of the flip side - another song I wrote! - called I GUESS I'LL NEVER KNOW!)

WES BRYAN ON YOU TUBE ANYONE ?

If anyone has any videos of Wes Bryan performing, we would love to see them. Most likely these would be television performances from 1957 to 1961.

Wes Bryan performed on The Ed Sullivan Show (New York), Dick Clark American Bandstand (Philadelphia), performing "Little Spaceman" in 1957 and about a year or so later, performing "Freeze," Wink Martindale Show (Memphis - and later Los Angeles), Dewey Phillips Dance Party (in Memphis), Milt Grant Show (Washington, DC.),Phil McClain Show (Cleveland, Ohio), co-staring Joann Campbell, Buddy Deane Show (Baltimore), Fran Rattery Show (Saint Petersburg, Florida), Jack Parr Show (New York), WCOP Wink Martindale Show (Los Angeles), Bob Roberts Show (Albany, New York WABY), and many others throughout the United States.

In the late 1950's and into 1960 Wes Bryan performed on many radio programs live, throughout the country, including his hometown of Murphy, North Carolina, as well.

Wes performed live for two years on the road with Rockabilly Star Buddy Knox's road tour, as a separate act. They played in 47 states. He also performed while on Roulette Records with Jimmy Bowen at dance party venues.

Christine Trzyna

(232) AN AIRPLANE HAS CRASHED - IN IT BUDDY HOLLY, THE BIG BOPPER, and RITCHIE VALENS

On February 3, 1959, Buddy Knox and I were traveling on tour. We were both on Roulette Records by then.

After a late night we got up and went to breakfast. I ran to get the newspaper and was shocked to see the headline.

Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson also known as JP), and Ritchie Valens had been killed in a plane crash. The three men had been trying to make time on their own road tour.

Now Paul McCartney owns the Buddy Holly music catalogue and there's a musical about Buddy in Australia.

CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO GET TO THE LINK ABOUT THE MUSICAL. And check out our previous blogs on the impact of this plane crash by using the search feature of this blog above!

ROULETTE - RADIO STATION COPY OF MELODIE D' AMOUR - WES BRYAN

My tour for Roulette to promote Melodie D'Amour took me through many cities including my new home town of Los Angeles in 1961. I performed on the Wink Martindale Show on KCOP and on Alan Freed's Radio Show, as well as the amusement park in Pacific Palisades with the Pacific Ocean view.

Meanwhile I was a staff song writer at American Music, the publishing house owned by Sylvester Cross.

Here's a "Radio Station Copy" of the record that Elvis said was one of his favorites. He put it in his juke box at the house and carried a copy with him to Vegas.

(211) RIDING MOTORCYCLES WITH RICK NELSON

I met Rick Nelson when my Roulette Records tour which had taken me to places as far flung as Santa Fe, New Mexico, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Saint Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, landed me in what was becoming my new home town, Los Angeles California. Rick and I both appeared on KCOP - Wink Martindale's local show - the same week.

I don't know how to tell fans this but when you're on a promotions tour and in particular you have to play the same song radio station after radio station, it gets boring. Riding bikes was one of my stress busters!

While Johnny Burnette and Johnny Rivers and me stopped at the hot dog stand across from the Brown Derby in Hollywood, Rick Nelson and I actually went into the Brown Derby.

Use the Google Search feature above to look for our previous postings on Rick Nelson, including some YouTube video!

E-BAY AUCTION ON MY RECORD "ONE SUMMER NIGHT"

Friends, as you know, I check the e-bay auctions from time to time to see what's up there being sold "Wes Bryan."

And if you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you know one of the reasons for blogging is that there is a lot of Wes Bryan "confusion" out there. Christine and I have learned that some of the search engines put me and the Christian minister who has written a book or two and has a CD out together. I'm not the Christian minister. I'm also not the DJ, the athlete, the owner of a mini mall, or any of the other Wes Bryans out there on the Internet or in the world. (It's a great name though, isn't it guys?!)

I am the Wes Bryan who came out of Murphy, North Carolina, discovered off the Akron Beacon Journal - Roto section- who enjoyed a United Artists contract, and who changed labels a couple times to Clock and Roulette before becoming a staff songwriter at American Music.

I also became a record producer and music publisher. Though my story here on this blog is circa about 1960- 1961 about now, we noticed that a record I put out on my OWN LABEL, U. S. International, was being auctioned on e-bay and this seller has a music clip... So for as long as this lasts, enjoy listening to my record "One Summer Night." (Will this posting mean more bids for that record?) After I put "One Summer Night" out on my own label, Randy Wood who had once had Dot Records, put it out on Ranwood, his new label. It sold about 300,000 records.

Oh, I took a truck out to the beach in Malibu to record those seagulls you hear in the background...

(79) JIMMY BOWEN KEEPS ON GOING!

Jimmy Bowen, who had been on Crest Records and Roulette Records, was another musical genius that I worked with at American Music. We wrote over 100 songs together, many he recorded as demos. He called me to be a "four chord genius" and a "melody tune smith."

One night we wrote about 17 songs - in that one night - in a few hours - just to see what we could do.

Together we wrote a song called "Somebody to Love," which Jimmy recorded on Crest. Johnny Rivers wanted to record it and was mad at us for a while that we didn't hand it to him. It was a travelin' man kind of song.

A few bars here on RCS Discography.... (UPDATED WITH NEW JIMMY BOWEN RCS LINK APRIL 2012) Link above.
Jimmy had been performing in Akron, Ohio when he heard that first ever recording I made in a kitchen in Winston-Salem with some other kids. We went to the record hop there where I played my demo for the local DJ, Art Roberts, WCUE.

Then, split from Buddy Knox and the Rhythm Orchids, but all artists on Roulette, I sometimes played on the same bill with Jimmy, while on the Buddy Knox tour. (Jimmy Bowen, Donny Lanier - the lead guitar player who was the instrumental "balls" of the band, and Buddy Knox had started out as the Rhythm Orchids together in west Texas. They got their name from the Orchid shirts they wore as a band originally.)

Jimmy would leave American Music in about 1964 to be a producer for Frank Sinatra's new label, Reprise. There he would help give new life to the careers of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. These men were overshadowed by the new crop of rock and rollers hitting the charts. But Jimmy managed to select the song and produce "Everybody Loves Somebody Some Time," which became Dean Martin's theme song. Dean was on the charts surrounded by newcomers. And Jimmy did magic for Frank and Sammy too. He did "Stranger in the Night," for Frank that was Franks first single Gold record.

Here's a record Jimmy made in 1961 on Jerry Capehart's label which I found on You Tube. "Teenage Dream World." (VIDEO REPLACED BY THIS SELECTION APRIL 2012) "Aching Heart"

(62) MELODIE D'AMOUR A HIT, DAD MY GREATEST FAN

My father had real doubts when it all started for me.

He said, "Son you may be chasing a rainbow."Well, let's face it. How many people in this world have gone from local magazine cover-boy to teen idol in a few short months? The publicity drums beat for me and I was quickly in a celebrity whirl, living a planes, trains, and automobiles kind of existence.

My father was a hard working man, a man who had traveled for work in the construction business and wanted to bring me into the trade as his apprentice. He reminded me that if I got my contractors license I could always fall back on that kind of work. But once I "crashed the fame barrier," no one was prouder or a bigger supporter of my new career direction than my dad.

Still, I had lived a lot by 1960.

I'd traveled all over the United States appearing on live dance party and variety television shows for United Artists. I had switched record labels after quitting United Artists when Clock Records won a bidding war for me. I was traveling all over the United States doing live performances on the Buddy Knox tour and had moved on to Roulette Records. I'd met and worked with some very accomplished and famous people and I'd started writing songs and offering them to my peers.

"Melodie D' Amour" was a hit...

(61) ROULETTE RECORDS - MORRIS LEVY

Roulette Records was where I was signed by Morris Levy. Morris Levy had once owned the famous Birdland jazz club in New York City and had offices in the Brill building. The very first record he had ever released on his Roulette Label (#4001) was Jimmy Bowen's "I'm Stickin' With You" (#4002) and the second was Buddy Knox's "Party Doll", both hits in 1957, and of course I was friends with both and performed at various venues with both artists.

My friend Jimmie Rodgers was also on Roulette.

I did a single for Roulette, which was "Melodie D'Amour," (The A side) and "I Guess I'll Never Know" (The B.) When I had the demo made, I ran into Ersel Hickey. He was heading over to Theresa Brandie's flat. "Let's Listen to it over there," Ersel said, so we went over, put it on the turn table, and Ersel thought "You have a hit."

Ersel wasn't the only person who loved "Melodie D'Amour." Elvis did too. He played it over and over again without another song in between, which is what he did when he really loved a song. I had to wonder if this had something to do with the fact that Dewey Phillips had played "That's All Right Mama" over and over again - with no record in between - when he played Elvis' record on his Red Hot and Blue radio program, which started Elvis' fame and fortune. One of the entourage told me that Elvis had even sung along with my record. When he got back to Los Angeles, he had it put in his juke box, and when it was spent from being played in the juke, he gave it to one of the entourage to keep.

When I stayed over at Elvis' he had a cute way of waking me up after a long party. He would put one of my own records on the turntable, turn it up loud, then stand over me, and say "I though that'd wake you up!"

The history of Roulette Records, a small label, by David Edwards and Mike Callahan here is comprehensive and we're really impressed with what they have to offer researchers in their "stereo newsletter" about other labels as well. Link above!

VIDEO ADDED JULY 2013

ROULETTE RECORDS : WES BRYAN : I GUESS I'LL NEVER KNOW

ROULETTE RECORDS used the carnival roulette wheel as a pictorial representation of the chances taken on artists when they signed and recorded someone. Being signed by Roulette was eased for me by Jimmy Bowen and Buddy Knox, who were already signed by the label. I would tour for two years with Buddy Knox and meet up with Jimmy Bowen along the road to perform with him too. Besides my own songs, recorded on United Artists, Clock, and Roulette records, I also covered Rock and Roll hits by stars like Carl Perkins and Eddie Cochran.

(38) JIMMIE "HONEYCOMB" RODGERS & ROULETTE RECORDS

Just as my music friends had encouraged me to change labels when I was with United Artist's Record label, after the one record with Clock Records, they encouraged me to change labels again. Changing labels wasn't uncommon. It was like people do today, stay at a job a year, see no future, change jobs again.

This time it was my friend Jimmie "Honeycomb" Rodgers who encouraged me to join Roulette records where he was signed. Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen also thought I should be on Roulette, also their label at this point. They eased my way a bit, talking me up at the company, and I would soon be signed.

Jimmie Rodger's has a common name, and as you'll see when you read a bit about him, there were a few other musicians and singers with that same name, so the Jimmie that was my friend got to be known as Jimmie "Honeycomb" Rodgers or "Mr. Honeycomb."

Here's a YouTube video of Jimmie singing "Honey Comb"

NEW VIDEO embedded January 13, 2011

A few years ago, after three brain surgeries, Jimmie Rodgers got himself back on stage! Here is an interview with Jimmie... New link January 13, 2011... Click on the title to get there!

(22) JIMMY BOWEN : HIS LIFE AND MINE INTERTWINE

Jimmy Bowen of Buddy Knox's group, called The Rhythm Orchids, was passing though Akron, Ohio when I first met him at a record hop where I'd taken a demo I made in a kitchen in Winston-Salem to the local DJ Art Roberts. It was against the radio station policy to play a demo, so the key was to get it into the man's hands at the hop.

Art Roberts loved my demo record and so did Jimmy, who'd already had a hit. So I met Jimmy Bowen before I was discovered off the Akron Beacon Journal-Roto cover or had signed my contracts with United Artists.

Jimmy Bowen's life and mine would intertwine for years. We would perform together as solo artists signed to Roulette Records, after I left United Artists, and would work together as staff song writers at American Music in Los Angeles a few years later in the early 1960's. He went on to be a well respected music producer.

I'm getting a bit ahead of my story here, though.

ROCKIN COUNTRY STYLE DISCOGRAPHY - JIMMY BOWEN
Click on the title to get to the new link!

Here's Jimmy Bowen from a You-Tube presentation circa 1957

doing his song "Cross Over."

New Youtube Video January 20, 2011