(485) DION : ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN (DICK HOLLER SONGWRITER) ON THE SMOTHER'S BROTHERS TV SHOW

So proud of Dion, known for his early Rock and Roll hit "Run Around Sue," when he hit the charts in 1968 with this song, "Abraham, Martin, and John," a song written by Dick Holler.  It's become a classic tribute to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and President John F. Kennedy.


Link to DION DI MUCCI : OFFICIAL

 "Music Critics say he is the only first-generation rock and roll artist who  has remained creative and relevant through the decades. In 1958 He had three top-forty hits. In 2007 He was nominated for a Grammy. His last three albums have some of his best work.

Dion and his music represent a special time and place . . .  a moment when a song could mean so much and a singer could sum up what it means to be young, in love and on top of the world.

A street poet and singer of extraordinary versatility, range and resonance, Dion defined Rock 'n' Roll for a generation."

Use the Google Search feature embedded in this blog to pull up past posts on Dion as well as the Smothers Brothers!

HERE IS THE SONGWRITERS VERSION:

LASH LARUE Quote on Life

Cowboy star Lash told me this one when we were dining out at the Entre Cafeteria across from Capitol records years ago. The Entre was a favorite with character actors - musicians - stars- everybody. We used to meet there and as I mentioned when I blogged on Lash earlier, he was my favorite cowboy, as well as Elvis', and Tommy Smothers.

"I'm from an area of time and space that the human race ain't ready for yet!"
- Lash Larue

Here's a clip from a film Lash did on a YouTube presentation, a cowboy bullwhip contest! Welcome to my childhood!

Lash LaRue vs. El Azote! Lash is the cowboy in black without the mask!

(80) GLEN CAMPBELL - MUSICAL GENIUS WITH AN AUDIOGRAPHIC MEMORY

Another peer of mine at American Music was Glen Campbell. Glen used to come to the house my brother and I rented near Hollywood and hang out, when he first came to Hollywood by invitation of Jerry Capehart. Jerry Capehart discovered him playing in Albuquerque with his uncle Dick Bills' band. Jerry had been Eddie Cochran's manager and a co-writer with him on some songs.

Glen's ability to play several instruments - even the bagpipes - by ear earned him about $50 a week more than most of us made. He saved Sylvester Cross some money when he was in on sessions for demos.

Of course, as some of us soon learned, making demos for other people wasn't against our contracts. And the publishing houses were all in competition, and more than one of us recorded demos for other houses.

Glen Campbell has gone on to greater fame than perhaps anyone I worked with at American Music, when it comes to being a singer and entertainer. Glen had an incredible audiographic memory. He hears a song once and he has it.

Rockin Country Style discography on Glen Campbell link above!

Glen and I worked together a bit. We wrote a song that got recorded by more than one artist - including Glen, called "I'm A Fool." Rick Nelson also recorded the song. And it's mentioned on this Joey Cooper discography. Joey Cooper recorded the song - in my opinion perfectly - on Chancellor Records, Bob Marcucci's label.

http://www.geocities.jp/hideki_wtnb/joey-c45.html

BMI lists this song as:

I M A FOOL (Legal Title)
BMI Work #648724

Songwriters Glen Campbell and Wes Bryan

Publishing by UNICHAPPEL MUSIC

Glen was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. On stage he thanked songwriter Jimmy Reed, and Television Producer Tommy Smothers.

(78) CHALLENGE RECORDS : COWBOY STAR GENE AUTRY'S LABEL

Jerry Cole, Jerry Fuller, and a number of other talents, had been recorded on Challenge Records which was owned by cowboy star-entrepreneur Gene Autry, before they came to American Music to be songwriters more or less full time.

Through the early 1960's this was still an era in which many small labels managed to succeed, though perhaps only a very few of their artists are known today. If a song was a hit in a regional market for one of the regional market favorites, another company in another region might try the same song with one of their singers. It was the cover tune era. Sometimes this worked for the songwriter, because the song was being recorded repeatedly and got a lot of regional airplay on the radio. Sometimes though it was a matter of chart wars just diluting the overall success of the song.

To those of us who grew up admiring the cowboys, the way me and Elvis and Tommy Smothers loved Lash LaRue, men like Gene Autry, who diversified and built empires, were important role models.

Gene went on to own radio stations as well and today he's behind a hugely successful museum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. Once called the Gene Autry Western Heritage, it just goes by "The Autry National Center" now. It's the place where you can take in Westerns and silent films and check the movie version of Cowboys and Indians against reality, and attend Native American events.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/challenge.htm

RCS DISCOGRAPHY FOR CHALLENGE RECORDS, Gene's label, linked above!

GENE AUTRY's MUSEUM has grown to be THE AUTRY NATION CENTER and is collaborating with other museums that document Native American life.

http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/

(4) LASH LARUE - MY FAVORITE COWBOY STAR !

The greatest entertainment for kids in Murphy, North Carolina when I was growing up there in the Smokeys was when the cowboy shows came through town - a caravan of horses and cowboys - bad guys and good. They performed shoot outs and stunts. We loved to race to the stage to help the good guys take care of the bad ones.

My favorite cowboy was always LASH LARUE, who always dressed in black. He was Tommy Smothers and Elvis Presley's favorite cowboy too!

Lash LaRue and I became friends in Los Angeles in the late 1970's. He still wore all black, his pants embroidered with the initials L.L., but he left his hat at home when he was having lunch with his friends.

Lash had a speech impediment that he'd learned to tackle by talking out of one side of his mouth. Despite this, he was a gifted and clever voice-over artist in his later years, the voice behind many radio and television commercials. I enjoyed Lash thoroughly.

LASH LARUE Fan Club, P.O. Box 2484, Sanford, NC 27330.

Click on the title above to read about Lash in THE INDIAN READER

Here's a You-Tube video of a Lash LaRue


This "Trailer" that also shows Al "Fuzzy St. John, his side kick.