(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"

(54) GEORGE HAMILTON THE IVth and ME Watch THE WELCOME HOME ELVIS TV SPECIAL - FRANK SINATRA

Would Elvis would put on a suit and become a crooner like Bobby Darin and Fabian, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra?

Well, the answer to that seemed to be yes - and no. The American public did get to see Elvis on TV suited up. Frank Sinatra had a television special that introduced this new mature Elvis, a man who, I knew, was continuing to exercise his voice and singing capabilities to sound like the American tenor Mario Lanza. (His inspiration for the way he sang on "It's Now or Never.") Elvis's facial expressions and restrained but ever-Elvis body language communicated that beneath that straight suit he was still nothin but a hound dog!

To be sure Colonel Parker had as many members of the Elvis Presley Fan Club in the audience as he could get, and they out did the applause Frank got too.

Interestingly, the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra's entourage) was there, all but for Dean Martin, the one Elvis liked the most.

Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy, looking like a prom queen, not yet hip, and with her naturally not yet blonde blonde hair, made an appearance on the show, which had the highest ratings for the evening.

After being there for Elvis return to Memphis, I got back on the Buddy Knox tour, and was in New York City watching the show with a friend of mine, the country boy George Hamilton the IV. He was in our home state of North Carolina and we stayed on the telephone long distance with each other, comparing notes about Elvis' performance and the entire show. We agreed, Elvis sounded better than ever.

Here's a couple You Tube videos of Elvis on the "Frank Sinatra Special" which also got called the "Welcome Home Elvis" special which was broadcast live from Miami Beach, Florida, and sponsored by Timex, the watch company.

In this first You Tube video, Frank performs a tune - written for the show - about the army. This video includes Nancy Sinatra, Joey Bishop (he just died a day or so ago at 89!), and Sammy Davis Jr. Elvis walks onto the stage in his army uniform. This may just be the set up Colonel Parker needed to route Elvis Presley back to Las Vegas eventually but at this point Parker is going to use Elvis' military background to his advantage. And my friend Elvis was always a patriotic American, proud of his military service, and one for the veterans of this great country, so believe me, Elvis didn't mind one iota.

Elvis and Frank share songs but who are the girls screaming for? You can put Elvis is a suit but you can't take the Elvis out of him!