JAMES DEAN BORN COOL : DOCUMENTARY : JAMES DEAN FESTIVAL 2013 LINK!

The film-makers have decided to post this on YOUTUBE and that is VERY COOL!  Featuring family and friends, made originally in 2002!
JAMES DEAN COMMUNITY FESTIVAL 2013 LINK

WES BRYAN IN CENTRAL PARK "TRICK PHOTO" TAKEN BY MY MANAGER IN NEW YORK

  I had to really look at this fun photo to recognize it as Wes Bryan, but it is, and probably because he is not so recognizable it was barely used.  His manager at the time took the photos which played up his James Dean-ess and they were distributed in publicity packages to the press by what Wes calls the "United Artists Publicity Machine."   The clue here is the overcoat, as James Dean was famously photographed in one walking around New York City.

 

A copy of this photo has been on sale at e-Bay (and thus the vintage image distortions) for about $25.00 and is rarer than some of the other publicity photos out there.  

 

How'd they do that? 

 

Christine Trzyna

(479) JAMES DEAN THE ICONIC ACTOR and WHAT THAT HAS TO DO WITH ME and MY DAD

People say to me, especially when they see this blog, Wes, you met so many interesting people!

I have.

I've also lived my life as a private citizen and private person for many years since those days when I was part of a scene in New York, on the road, or in Los Angeles.

Today I'm a retired senior citizen, and so many of my friends and associates, one's I've written about, have passed.

You know, I did meet and have friendships with many people who became famous - more famous than me - Elvis Presley being the most famous of them all, but it's funny because the person I wanted to meet and never could, besides Marilyn Monroe, was James Dean.

My dad was initially not for my having a career in entertainment.

Dad was teaching me the home building and remodeling trade and we were in Akron, Ohio working when my picture hit the Akron Beacon Journal Roto Magazine cover, and it was a photographer on staff there who saw the resemblance and did that cover.

I always credited him with "discovering" me but I also had to my credit Jimmy Bowen, who was in Akron and liked a demo I did in a kitchen, and a local DJ who played my demo, too.

Soon Hollywood was sending telegrams and calling me as was New York - United Artists.

I went visiting my dad, and remember being in a movie theatre in the South with him where we'd gone to watch a James Dean movie together. Dad got the full picture of whose shoes I was supposed to fill then, especially because early on I was "discovered" and promoted to be "The Next James Dean," after the real James Dean's death, on September 30, 1955.

Since beginning this blog, we've focused on music, because there was a fork in the road for me early in life, and that was acting or music and I took music,  but  this month we're taking a detour to focus a bit on Jimmy.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES : (24) HOW I MET THE FAMOUS YOUNG ELVIS PRESLEY & WINK MARTINDALE

(24) HOW I MET THE FAMOUS YOUNG ELVIS PRESLEY and WINK MARTINDALE
 from September 11, 2007

United Artists had me touring around the country, playing live on television, radio, and at record hops on a promotional tour for my launch with "Lonesome Love," and "Tiny Spaceman." On my first tour of the Mid South in 1957, I went to Memphis, Tennessee to perform on a couple shows.

One of them was Wink Martindale's version of a dance party show.

At this point I was beginning to become used to the adoration of my fans. I was a teen idol. My name was mentioned in the columns and pictures of me and magazine articles about me were out there. The girls chased me around and even tried to tear my clothes off. Wink had the kids in the audience ready to give me a hearty welcome, but as I sang, I realized I had never caused so much commotion before... HA!

Elvis Presley and his early entourage had burst into the station to see me!

That's what all the commotion was about! Even Elvis wanted to see what "The Next James Dean" really looked like. I was so excited that Mr. Elvis Presley was out there in the audience. Elvis Presley had achieved stardom and had become a millionaire. I was a fan of his and he was an inspiration! But I never dreamed Elvis would be coming round to see me!

After my performance, Elvis asked me to come back to Graceland TM with him to meet his parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley. He had just purchased his own stretch limo and, after I piled in with the guys, Elvis drove us home in it himself. His family was much like mine because of our southern upbringing, and his father Vernon and especially his mother Gladys were welcoming. Gladys had the table spread with food and asked about my family. She said they had relatives in the Smokey Mountains.

That night I met Elvis's best friend from Humes High School in Memphis, George Klein, and funny-man ex-DJ, and recording artist Cliff Gleaves too.

That evening was the beginning of a friendship with Elvis Presley that lasted the 20 years until his death.

(476) BUDDY KNOX BY BRUNO OF HOLLYWOOD

HERE'S BUDDY in HOLLYWOOD

I went on tour with Buddy for a couple years and he made the introductions that got me onto Roulette Records where he was signed. Eventually we made our way to Hollywood, after playing in in the lower 48 states... or was that 47? Well, we didn't play in Utah though I got some press in Utah, and we didn't play in Hawaii, though we wanted to. Elvis loved Hawaii and we all wrote or sang songs with the Hawaiian theme.

Sometimes while on tour Buddy would go off and play with Jimmy Bowen, who he'd had the Rhythm Orchids with, and sometimes I went off to play with Jimmy, who was instrumental in my early career.

I also had my photo taken by Bruno of Hollywood. He was the photographer to go see when you came to Hollywood. So far that picture hasn't made the e-Bay auctions like some of the pictures that my manager took of me when I was at United Artists have. Most of the pictures that hit e-Bay of me were sent out in press kits.

(Want to know more about Buddy or Jimmy?  Check out that Google Search feature embedded in this blog!) 

WATCHING THE E-BAY AUCTIONS FOR WES BRYAN "MEMORABILIA"

We watch the e-Bay auctions from time to time to see what's for sale up there under the "Wes Bryan" heading.  When we first started to blog, there were just a few Wes Bryans with web presence.  There was the DJ, the Christian Minister, and a Real Estate developer.

Now there are several more, with Facebook, Twitter, and other accounts, and on e-Bay, under the Wes Bryan, search comes some items related to the football player, Wes Bryan. 

So we're glad we titled this blog WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC, to separate all those Wes Bryans out a bit! 

In the last weeks, to our surprise there has been a lot of e-Bay action on Wes Bryan records and pictures from the beginning of my United Artist singing - acting sensation days, including a Hep Cat magazine, pictures of me in Central Park and sculpting (these were taken by my then manager and used as part of the United Artists promotions), as well as pressings of my songs that I recorded at Roulette in New York City, some of which made it to be re-pressed in England for London American Recordings, demos and the final products sold in stores.  The bidding action was heavy on these with sales at over $35.00 per item.  Interesting!

(397) MEDIA IN THE LATE 1950'S and EARLY 1960'S : SYNDICATED COLUMNISTS

Christine and I watch the e-Bay auctions to see if anything is for sale under the Wes Bryan category that I don't own or haven't seen in years or don't know about and once in a while I'm surprised. Once in a while a magazine comes up for sale that I know there was an article - or a mention - in.

In the 1950's and early 1960's there were a few important and powerful writers - columnists - who were syndicated, which means that whatever they wrote was printed in small newspapers that couldn't afford their own music critic, all about the same time. These articles went over the wire to reach news rooms where local journalists worked, and typesetters made the article fit.

Some of these writers did mention me and my colleagues in their columns, and recently some of these columns have started appearing on databases that make it easier to research than cranking the old microfilm.

We're going to blog about a few of them.

WAIT FOR ME BABY WES BRYAN

The flip side of Freeze, a Doo Wop song sung by me with the great Ben Alexander on the sax! We'll be replacing this video soon: the Youtuber who first presented it is reworking his channel and has been in touch!

(352) THOSE ACTING SINGING SONGWRITING SENSATIONS! (DO YOU THINK JAMES DEAN COULD HAVE MADE A HIT RECORD?)

A number of the artists we're talking about here (including me) fell under the category of "ACTING - SINGING SENSATIONS."

Elvis Presley was probably the most successful at turning a music career into a musical acting career. Bobby Darin did it well. Pat Boone, Frankie Avalon, so many others sang as actors in movies.

James Dean played the bongos. He liked Jazz.
DO YOU THINK JAMES DEAN COULD HAVE MADE A HIT RECORD?

Many of us had multiple creative talents or interests.

For me it was (way back then) sculpture and photography.
Today I still play my guitar and it seems I'm always working on a song in my head.

(271) NATALIE TRUNDY

Famous now for the "Planet of the Apes" movies, Natalie was, like Christine White, a hard working, often hired television actress in the late 1950's in New York - a bit of history (sorry ladies!) when it comes to early television.

That's her sitting next to me in the publicity photo put out by United Artists.

Link now to her official web site!

KIRK DOUGLAS in STANLEY KUBRICK's PATHS OF GLORY

Called "The Most Explosive Film Ever Made" in 1957, by United Artists, with Stanley Kubrick as the producer. While I waited to play James Dean, United Artists had me doing commercials for this film. Here's the original trailer thanks to a YouTube Contributor. No I'm not in it...



One of the Best War Movies Ever Made! United Artists felt that making commercials for them that they used in their theaters would help me get comfortable behind a camera. Are any of those old commercials preserved in a film archive somewhere? I'd love to know...

(261) VISITING ELVIS ON SET of KID GALAHAD

Elvis had three movies that came out in 1962. When Elvis was filming he took his roles very seriously. He could read a script through once and remember his lines but he called it a night early to get a good night sleep if he had to be up early for filming.

While Elvis was filming "Kid Galahad," I went to see him and the entourage as it existed at the time (no one used the term Memphis Mafia yet - that was coined by a reporter some time later). The guys were simply "his guys," and the role they played in Elvis' life was that every one of them had a job to do. Their jobs ranged, over time, and depending on the person's capabilities, from keeping the cars detailed to finding out about beautiful women he expressed interest in. I never worked for Elvis.

Elvis' had a little house to stay in, in Big Bear, during the filming. That's where we all relaxed with Elvis, after a day of filming.



There are a lot of Kid Galahad music videos on YouTube. We picked this one because the film makers picked up on the fact that Elvis loved to have a lot of guys around, guys with musical talent, singing with him.

(260) ELVIS REMAKES KID GALAHAD - MOVIE PROMO

Kid Galahad first came out in 1937. The Elvis Presley starring remake was, I'm told, very different. I made trailers like these to promote movies for United Artists when I was first signed to them in 1957, as a way to gain experience in front of the camera. James Dean was supposed to make a remake of this film too.

In 1962 Elvis starred in the remake.


This post wouldn't be possible without historical footage from You Tube contributors, so we want to thank them!

(230) BRANDING - THE MARKETING OF AN ARTIST

Today many people outside of the field of marketing are familiar with the term "Branding."

Branding a person is turning them into an easily to recall, recognizable symbol. For instance, when Dick Clark said that Elvis Presley was one of the most recognizable brands in the world, he meant that Elvis had reached the point in his fame where you didn't even have to say Presley. The name Elvis meant Elvis Presley, the Rockabilly star who became known as "The King of Rock and Roll," (TM!)

When United Artists was grooming me to be a Rockabilly star, they had their own public relations - promotions- marketing department that fed articles to newspapers, as well as inciting the interest of magazine writers, Dj's at radio stations, and television show bookers. "WES BRYAN-THE NEXT JAMES DEAN" was the brand they were trying to promote.

I did everything I could to cooperate with their plans for me and my career. I was grateful for the opportunities presented to me. Still, after some time I began to want to be known for being me - Wes Bryan.

Then, after years of being chased around by fans and enjoying a public life, I became a private citizen and was grateful for that opportunity too. A few years ago when Christine Trzyna told me that I had Internet presence I was shocked!

(150) THE HOLLYWOOD BUG CONTINUES TO BITE ME

In New York acting was respected as a dramatic art and the stage was the place to be. I studied at Actors Studio in New York with Lee Strasberg, who is now legendary.

The Studio System of Hollywood put actors on contract. The amount of money to be made was quite limited in those years compared to what successful actors demand and get today - very limited. Even when an actor made millions for the studios on a picture, or a top agent like Henry Wilson was going to negotiate for you, the actors take was limited.

Of course some stars managed to get their contracts rewritten for more money. Wealth for many didn't come outright from pay or overnight but from investing what they earned in real estate - land especially - in Southern California, which had experienced a first surge of the building boom after World War II.

So you had to love acting and love it enough to do it knowing you might never make a lot of money. You had to appreciate the many perks that came with being a famous actor, including meeting people and making connections that could do you some good, but you had to earn it all the time. You had to do things their way.

Just as James Dean had moved to Hollywood and making films, many of my peers, including of course Bobby Darin, looked forward to a movie acting career. It was one thing to make grueling promotional tours around the country, one radio or television station after another, and another to be known almost instantly around the whole country because you were seen in the movies. So long as the move from stage to screen included musicals, it made sense to the viewing public that an actor would launch into song.

THE NEXT JAMES DEAN FAN PHOTO

(85) THE NEXT JAMES DEAN? NOT !

If you're wondering what happened to THE NEXT JAMES DEAN, as I was called by United Artists when I first signed with them in 1957, and as they promoted me, well, once he got to Hollywood, he couldn't help but give some thought to pursuing acting again.

At first, when Elvis introduced me to people, he too brought up the James Dean comparison. Then one day I asked him not to do it. And he never did again. Still, Elvis asked me a few times if I would like a bit part or to be an extra on one of the movies he was filming. I always turned down the idea. More than one of Elvis' friends or employees did take a bit part or act as an extra on his films. To Elvis this was more of a way of keeping his friends around him than giving someone their big break into better roles, but it was interesting and fun to be on a set with Elvis. I visited him on sets from time to time.

Elvis made more money for his acting than James Dean ever did.

I have to admit that my acting aspirations were also so high at one time that I just couldn't imagine taking a bit part or being an extra. And, as it turned out, I had two close calls with acting stardom before I finally gave up on that aspect of my career, that is if you consider close calls with stardom to be part of a top agent's stable...

CRASHING THE FAME BARRIER : WES BRYAN PUBLICITY PHOTO

THIS PHOTO WAS IN ONE OF THE FIRST ARTICLES PUBLISHED ABOUT ME. WHEN DAD SAW THE MAGAZINE HE WENT RUNNING AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD SHOWING PEOPLE MY PICTURE. He was so proud of me and it was the beginning of him getting behind me and giving up all his doubts about my making it in the business.

(36) Goodbye UNITED ARTISTS! Hello CLOCK RECORDS!

I'll leave the details about my departure from United Artists for my memoir, but without getting into the circumstances that propelled me, the short of it is that I quit.

Dad pointed out that I had signed my seven year contract underage because UA didn't want to let me go. My dad had first expressed big doubts about my becoming an "Acting-Singing Sensation," but had become my biggest fan. Now he was on my side when it came to leaving United Artists. Dad wanted me to have a new manager - Elvis' Colonel Tom Parker!

I quit United Artists having traveled thousands of miles on tours and after having made countless television, radio, and record hop - dance party performances, and after having had a Gold Record.

I quit having studied acting with Lee Strasberg at Actors Studio, having auditioned for some movie roles and having appeared in promotionals for other star's films. (We called them movies then.) I quit having the highest hopes to play the late, great James Dean in the bio pic.

But I was also tired of the James Dean comparisons. There were those who were glad I had failed. How could I have ever dared try to "be" him? When could I be myself?

United Artists had decided they could not make the movie. I was told that if they had gone forward with it, I would have had the role. I'd beat out a few other guys including Dean Stockwell for the part, and it meant everything to me to know that James Dean's own family had put the good word in for me that they wanted me to play Jimmy!

I quit United Artists having honed my performance and interviewing skills to perfection. I quit while having great respect for Max E. Youngstein, who had personally signed me to their new label to launch it, and having appreciated all that United Artists had done for me - the publicity, everything. I quit because it was the only choice, in circumstances that were devestating to me.

But I was still young, healthy, talented, and ambitious, and maybe more than anything I had made a lot of friends in the business.

This was when Bessie Little, the publicist entered my life. She had written about me - and many other stars - before, but she had never met me. A woman executive at United Artists who knew the inside story of my circumstances ran into singer Bobby Darin in a cafeteria and urged him to have me come up to see her. That woman personally introduced me to her publicist friend Bessie Little.

(I wrote a bit about Bessie Little earlier in this blog, on the September 10th, 2007 - blog post #23.)

Record companies trying to track me down called Bessie's office.

After I left United Artists there was a record label bidding war for me!

This gave me hope that I still had a career ahead of me! Bobby Darin was thinking of changing labels himself, despite the success of "Splish Splash." Frankie Avalon, Buddy Knox, Ersel Hickey, and other friends in the music business had urged me to change labels.

The new Clock label was owned by veteran English-born EMI record man Wally Moody and his son Doug Moody. In about 1958 they had Dave "Baby" Cortez, known for "The Happy Organ." The Moodys, who had managed to produce a high percentage of hit records for a small label, won me.

Clock Records had a unique record label design with an alarm clock going off on it, as you'll see when you click on this RCS discography link.

On the CLOCK LABEL I recorded "Honey Baby," and "So Blue Over You."

IT WAS THE SUMMER OF 1959!

A bit on Clock Records... Link to PAISLEYHAZE site!

Little did I know that an even more exciting phase of my life was beginning for me, and that it would be some of my best friends in the business who would give me that hand up when I needed it!

To this day I am grateful for those friends along the way,those friends who never gave up on me!

(12) I'm the first artist signed to UNITED ARTISTS new RECORD LABEL and I meet GLARK GABEL!

United Artists signed me to two contracts, one for acting and the other for making music on their brand new record label! UA's Max E. Youngstein signed me himself. I was their first artist and he headed up the new label. I went to New York City to sign with Max and about that time I became Wes Bryan, the new "Singing, Acting, Sensation."

United Artist held a big bash at the chic 21 Club to launch their new label and my career!


Perhaps the greatest thrill for me was that I met the handsome actor CLARK GABLE, who was the star of "Gone With The Wind," on my way out of my own party! Clark had been a "duster" on the line at a factory making new tires in Akron, Ohio himself. Clark shook my hand and his hand was even bigger than mine! I gave him a BOX of my new single record, "Tiny Spaceman" and "Lonesome Love."

I was glorified and petrified as bags of fan mail started to arrive and UA's publicity drums started beating for me. Several news writers announced my arrival on the scene in their columns, including Walter Winchell.

CLARK GABEL - OFFICIAL WEB SITE link above!

Museum of Broadcast Communications

WALTER WINCHELL

 

RADIO HALL OF FAME   link updated Feb 2014

CLARK GABLE FOUNDATION   new!