(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.

JAMBOREE

This Jamboree promo video has excellent quality and since it includes BUDDY KNOX and the RHYTHM ORCHIDS singing Hula Love, JIMMY BOWEN singing Cross Over, as well as CARL PERKINS and FRANKIE AVALON, we thought we'd post it. We're still working on our updates... check the pages for UPDATE PROGRESS!

(342) THE GIRLS GO CRAZY FOR THE BEATLES SHE LOVES YOU NOVEMBER 1963

If ever there was a threat to Elvis it was The Beatles. But we didn't know that just yet. Elvis kept up on what was happening in rock and roll in Britain and he had heard of the Beatles but I don't think any of us too them as seriously as we could have. Elvis was coming through the archives of the greatest Rock and Roll records ever made, looking for a song he wanted to record and make his own and playing demos for me up at the house.

Elvis, Buddy Knox, Jimmy Bowen, and the Rhythm Orchids, Bobby Darin, and me, were just a few of the early rock and rollers who were on The Ed Sullivan Show. And now it was the Beatles who would change the sound with appearances on television shows like Ed Sullivan. (Yes, Elvis sent them a congratulations telegram.)

Kennedy had been assassinated and the country was in despair. And while the Americans had first invaded Britain, now it was the British (they were called "the Brits" then, without offense) groups that would invade the United States.

(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!

(57) I RECORD WITH NORMAN PETTY/ Buddy Holly's Ex Musicians and Backup Singers

When Buddy Holly was on his last tour he went without the band that he was first famous with, the Crickets, so they were not on tour with him when that plane crashed. The individual Crickets were working as studio musicians in recording sessions over at producer Norman Petty's in Clovis, New Mexico.

NEW VIDEO MARCH 2014



Buddy Knox and I drove from New York to Winston Salem, visited with my dad, and then headed for Norman Petty. At Norman's studio there I recorded songs with Norman as producer and for my musicians I had Donny Lanier, the lead guitarist for Buddy Knox with the Rhythm Orchids, and Jerry Allison, the drummer for Buddy Holly with the Crickets!

Donny Lanier was the lead guitarist who did the two solo breaks on Buddy Knox and the Rhythm Orchids' hit "Party Doll." (The guitar sounded like Scotty Moore so Elvis wanted to record "Party Doll himself!)

So on my songs "Baby Blue" and "I Just Want Your Love," I've got some of Buddy Holly's Crickets sound and some of Buddy Knox's Rhythm Orchids.Donny Lanier played on "Blue Baby," and "I Just Want Your Love." His instrumental intro sounded a lot like "That'll Be The Day."

ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME - THE ROSES  updated March 2014   Here's a bit of information on the vault at Norman Petty's which I believe was located after Norman died.

SCHAUER. DE : NORMAN PETTY SESSIONS VAULT  updated March 2014

Also backing me for vocals on the two songs are The Roses, David Bigham and Robert Linville, Texans who also did backup vocals for Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox, and Jimmy Bowen in 1958-1959, and who toured as backup vocalists with Buddy Holly and the Crickets.

RCS DISCOGRAPHY WES BRYAN PAGE

"Blue Baby" and "I Just Want Your Love" were released in 1999 without my knowledge. My writing partner, Christine, and I found out on the Internet. RCS shows them as I knew them to be - unreleased.

 

(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