(401) MIDNIGHT EARL WILSON : HE ANNOUNCED THAT I LOOKED A LOT LIKE JAMES DEAN

An Evening News copy of an Earl Wilson Column that mentioned me! (We couldn't get it to enlarge so you could read it, but you can try!)

EARL WILSON was the syndicated columnist who announced that I'd been signed to United Artists and that I looked a lot like James Dean. One of the hardest working journalists that ever lived, Earl didn't just rely on contacts to give him information, he continued to interview even as the years went by. Being mentioned by Earl ever so briefly was a dream come true for the up and coming actor - singer - songwriter I was back in New York.

We're linking to his New York Times obit above which sings his praises.

We learned that Earl's son, Earl Junior, gave his father's papers to Ohio State college, the school he had graduated from.

(387) JOHNNY RIVERS STARS ON "SWINGING SHINDIG" ALBUM

The word "Shindig" came into common use as slang to mean...a rock and roll event...a jam...a party... and since titles are not copyrightable...


Johnny Rivers appeared on the television show but I don't think this album came out of the show.

Check out our previous posts about Johnny and go to his web site by clicking on the title above!



Here you get the whole Shindig segment including an ad for zit busters ! (Eeeewwe!) Right after the zits came Johnny playing "Maybellene" and "Memphis," both cover-tunes of the songs written by Chuck Berry. We're struck by the high energy of the shows.

(375) NICK VENET - PRODUCER AT CAPITOL HAD HIS OWN ROCKABILLY ORIGINS

CAPITOL RECORDS music producer Nick Venet had a rockabilly past of his own. This one is from 1957.
If you'll click on the title above you will go to a National Public Radio interview of Nick, who among many others, worked with Bobby Darin and Glen Campbell. This interview includes a Nick Venet produced version of Bobby Darin singing Dream Lover and is mostly about Bobby. Nick and Bobby went back to the Brill Building in New York, where Bobby was doing demos for other artists. There was a group of people who hung out in the restaurants nearby. I was one of them.

Nick Venet on Bobby Darin's career : "Being a songwriter was more realistic"

(371) CAPITOL RECORDS : A GREAT BIG RECORD LABEL

Throughout this blog we've posted on many of the smaller or regional record labels.

These labels were extrememly important to my generation of rockabilly and early rock and roll artists, as was the personality DJ who still was able to pick his or her favorites and give them a spin on the radio, often making stars out of artists. Many of these smaller labels had near no budget for promotion but the great big labels, such as Capitol Records did and so being signed by them usually meant that you'd have a publicity machine behind your efforts.

(YOU CAN USE THE SEARCH FEATURE OF THIS GOOGLE BLOGGER TO look up "personality DJ's" such as Cliff Gleaves, or Wolfman Jack!)

By 1964 Capitol had The Beatles of Great Britain and The Beach Boys of Los Angeles, California. They also had Glen Campbell, who was starting to move forward in his entertainment career after years of performing in small venues. (But let's hold a bit on the Glen Campbell story, which has been in the media lately.)

We're linking to the present day Capitol Records site where we noticed that BRIAN WILSON of the Beach Boys and RINGO STAR of the Beatles are still signed artists with this label!

WES BRYAN TAKES A QUESTION : COPYRIGHT ? NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR MUSIC EDUCATION

Adam : "I'm an aspiring song writer. I was wondering where I might find information on using famous quotes in song lyrics."

Wes : We're linking to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR MUSIC EDUCATION here which has some good information and links about music copyright. You may want to contact them and see if they can guide you to the correct answer.

I think the question may be who owns the copyright to a quote and if they are policing the use of their words. Fair Use of a quote for this blog includes attributing it to the person who said (or wrote) those words. There are many ways to express the same thought though, and we notice that some quotes are repeated (and published in books and on the net) with slight changes, attributed to different people. This question also falls into the same category of "song sampling" by rap artists and Fair Use of music on the net.

Our favorite, RCS Discography, carefully follows the 4 bar sampling policy. While, as we all know, YouTube established new ground in the (temporary) use of listening tomusic, including songs I wrote and recorded. So how much use anyone can get out of anything that someone else originated gets to be a complicated question at times.

(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.

BING CROSBY : DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR ?

(347) ELVIS PRESLEY HOLLY LEAVES AND CHRISTMAS TREES

Here is what we said on post 89:

Elvis' recording of Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees is here in this YouTube Video presentation. It was written by entourage member and body guard Red West and another songwriter, Glen Dale Spreen. Elvis published it himself, buying it for his Elvis Presley Music, one of three publishing entities he owned.

Can you tell we're warming up to the holidays here? Well, we think today is the first of the twelve days of Christmas. And Elvis always made a big deal of Christmas, with gifts to others, gifts to The Entourage, gifts to his employees, gifts to his family, gifts to his friends, and gifts to strangers, through generous donations to a great number of charities, mostly Memphis-based.

But for Elvis this spirit of giving had everything to do with his idol, the only idol he ever had, King of all Kings, Jesus Christ.

BLOGARAMA lists WES BRYAN MY LIFE IN MUSIC

Considering the zillions of music blogs out there, we are real pleased that Blogarama hosts us! You can rate us and vote for us on Blogarama!

Just click on the link above to get there! Put in Wes Bryan and go from there!

MARK TWAIN Quote on Friendship

"The proper office of a friend is to side with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly everybody will side with you when you are right." - Mark Twain

ELBERT HUBBARD Quote on Friendship

"Never explain. Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway." - Elbert Hubbard

KAHIL GIBRAN Quote on Friendship

"That which you love must in him (a friend) may be clearer in his absence"
- Kahil Gibran

W.S. GILBERT Quote on Friendship

"It isn't so much what's on the table that matters, but what's on the chairs."
- W.S. Gilbert

LEO BUSCAGLIA Quote on Friendship

"A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world." - Leo Buscaglia

JERRY COLE Quote on the Musician Lifestyle

"Where there's a will for us musicians there will always be a way for us to make a living from our music." - Jerry Cole

THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BLOG : THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS

Wes and I have had a year of adventures with this blog, a year of being reunited with old friends and of recalling great memories of his life in music, as it has intertwinned with some great people in the business; artists, singers, songwriters, producers...

We want to thank and send our love to those who have been supportive of us through the process of writing his memoirs and the process of making the index for that book come alive here with sound clips, videos, websites and photos.

Christine Trzyna & Wes Bryan

(60) CARL PERKINS : THE ORIGINAL BLUE SUEDE SHOES

Another inspiration for me when I was performing on the Buddy Knox tour was Rockabilly artist Carl Perkins.

I met Carl Perkins the day that I played on Wink Martindales, in Memphis, in the fall of 1957. I was supposed to be on another show with him, a show that belonged to Dewey Phillips, but when Elvis invited me to Graceland TM, I went off with him without thinking, and skipped the show. As a result Carl Perkins did four songs instead of two, to cover my absence!

Anyone who was into Rockabilly and the brand new Rock and Roll, had to know Carl Perkins, the original "Blue Suede Shoes." I covered that song as part of my show on the Buddy Knox tour. It was one of the few songs I covered that Elvis also covered but then again, so did Eddie Cochran and a whole lotta other performers.

Rockin Country Style Discography - Carl PerkinsRCS DISCOGRAPHY CARL PERKINS

Rockabilly Hall of Fame - Carl Perkins
ROCK A BILL HALL OF FAME - CARL PERKINS

Link above to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME - CARL PERKINS

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.

ELVIS LET'S PLAY HOUSE EARLY RECORDING

This is a You-Tube contribution of Elvis singing "Let's Play House," about 1954 sourced as from The Lousina Hayride show

That's the Blue Moon Boys, Elvis' original band, backing Elvis. Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on stand up base, and D.J. Fontana on drums.

We're replacing the expired video from a 1956 Milton Berle show with this one!

LONDON AMERICA RECORDS DEMO OF HONEY BABY BY WES BRYAN

Here's a recording I originally did on Clock Records appearing as a demo for radio play, I believe, made in England on London - American Records. At the time, I didn't know how I got airplay in England, but I knew that American Rock and Rollers, including the Everly Brothers, were popular there. Cliff Richard was the "English Elvis."