Hello to MY COUSIN DEAN !

My cousin Dean is the member of the family who keeps tabs on my career and what's up on the Internet about me. His was the first call I got alerting me to the fact that a song of mine was up on YouTube.

Dean is respected in our family for both his artistic achievements and because he is a Vietnam War Hero.

I'm sending my love to one of my favorite cousins today. Have a great one Dean!

WES BRYAN MELODIE D'AMOUR on YOUTUBE

I want to thank Arne of Sweden and Bernard of Britain for both posting my first song on YouTube, called "Melodie D'Amour" which came out about 1960. I promoted this song on television shows and public performances in Los Angeles, and it was a song that Elvis loved.



Now we sent an e-mail to Arne and Arne wrote back:

"Hello Wes.

I'm very flattered that I get a mail from such a great artist. I (and all my music friends) have always loved Melodie D'Amour, it's a very special version of the old song, by far the best in my opinion. I haven't heard about you for a long time, I hope everything is okay? Your music will live forever, so don't ever think otherwise. I could see why both Ersel and Elvis loved your awesome version, it's very special. I'm so glad for this mail, you have not only made my day, I could live for this a long long time.

Thanks so much and take care of yourself.

Best wishes, Arne."

ARNE YOU MADE OURS ! (And we hope to install a Swedish Translator soon!)

Wes Bryan and Family

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MUSIC HISTORY STAR ?

We've been blogging about so many people who I met, was friends with, worked with, heard in performance, or was influenced by in my life in music. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE STAR IN MUSIC HISTORY? Maybe someone we seem to have forgotten about ?

Use the comments to let us know!
Thanks!

Wes

JAMES DEAN SCREEN TEST MARLON BRANDO

Don't know the date on this but the rumors are true, Marlon screen tested for the role Jimmy got. We'll never know what would have become of James Dean and his career if he had lived...

NEW CODE FOR VIDEO NEEDED

GRAMMY MUSEUM FIELD TRIP

Recently 24 Los Angeles County Museums staged a free day over a weekend and I took full advantage, heading for the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.



I called Wes from the museum to tell him that I just got chills when I saw the simple red jacket that Ritchie Valens had worn for his first publicity photo. Also on display was Elvis Presley's family bible circa 1936 and letters from Elvis to a fan on Blue Moon Boys era pink stationary. Can you help but compare your own handwriting to that of the famous artist? How about a letter from Buddy Holly to his mother?

The museum boasts cutting edge techological achievement. There are NEARLY 200 MUSICAL GENRES to explore and you can watch performances, listen to famous songwriters talk about collaboration (I listened to Hal David and Carole King) or play at recording in booths with famous producers coaching you from small video screens.

Now listen. We know Grammys TM and Academy Awards TM are amazing. But we also know that the vast majority of musicians, songwriters, entertainers, actors - ARTISTS - never get near such recognition but are still deserving of praise, if for no other reason than it's damn difficult to be true to yourself as an artist and make a living.

So be inspired by the Grammy Museum and then keep on doing what you do, prizes or not!

Christine Trzyna

JAMES BYRON DEAN BLOG

Here's a myspace blog by a devoted JAMES DEAN Fan which also mentions me...

JAMES DEAN WEB SITE LINK

Keeping James Dean alive forever! This is a dynamic web site!

His aunt and uncle told me, when I spent some time on their farm, researching Jimmy, that I moved like him. I was also taller and Southern but from a rural family. I still don't think I look like Jimmy feature by feature.

ELVIS PRESLEY Quote About JAMES DEAN

"I knew by heart all the dialogue of James Dean's films; I could watch "Rebel Without a Cause" a hundred times over."

- Elvis Presley

(And when Elvis loved a song or a movie,that's exactly what he did do! Listen to it or watch it over and over! Wes)

JAMES BYRON DEAN February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955

The next few blogs will be in Honor of JAMES DEAN.

If he hadn't died in that terrible car crash Hollywood wouldn't have been looking for The Next James Dean. But I met his good friend Christine White while a tourist in Hollywood for the first time, well before I ever thought I would be an actor or singer, long before I was discovered.

I was a fan of James Dean's, and I wanted to know everything there was to know about him, so that I could fulfill what seemed to be my destiny of stepping into his shoes as a United Artists' actor.

JAMES DEAN DRIVING VIDEO

James Dean's accident stunned my generation. I was a fan - as well as being compared to him - before I understood who he was, years before my own fame.

(275) AHNA CAPRI

I met Ahna Capri around town, at Elvis', and in Pat Boone's office. (She was in a movie with him!)

There were so many beautiful women with great personalities and Ahna was one of those. She also had a good sense of humor about herself.

Christine White, Anne Helm, and Tuesday Weld; this generation of actresses were hard working, often hired actresses, who started in television and made films too.

Some of them were famous in their time. By that I mean they were making it into the fan magazines early in their careers and then as the years went by they began to do "character" roles.

Ahna's IMDB database resume is our link here: you'll wonder if you haven't seen her work on Baretta with Robert Blake or another show.

WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC RIGHTS INFORMATION

Once in a while we'll be posting a notice like this one that reminds readers that the content of this blog is Copyright Wes Bryan and Christine Trzyna with all rights reserved including Internet and International Rights. If interested in speaking to me, Wes Bryan, please contact us at the e-mail address wewritethebook@yahoo.com

(By the way folks, don't phish us or spam us, or try to scam us; We report it all and block offenders addresses!)

We are linking to a good many web sites, favoring the official web sites of various famous and important people as well as reference sites and YouTube video. If we link to your site or a video you uploaded and you don't want us to reference it, please let us know, and we'll take down the link. The content of other people's sites remains their own.

Thank you for your consideration and courtesy.

Christine Trzyna & Wes Bryan

(274) ANNE HELM - GLAMOUR GIRL OF THE SILVER SCREEN

One of my Hollywood Hills neighbors was the beautiful actress Anne Helm. I was friends with her brother Peter ...

Ann had stared with Elvis in his 1962 film "Follow That Dream." As things were in those days, she had also dated Gary Lockwood, the football player who also dated Tuesday Weld. Small world - always!

We've linked to a glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen site that has a resume and some photos.

(272) JO-ANN CAMPBELL : HIT MAKER IN HER OWN RITE

One of the singers I enjoyed performing live with and was proud to know was the talented Jo-ann Campbell, who was a hit-making singer-songwriter in her own rite.

In 1962 she had a hit with "The Girl From Wolverton Mountain", one of my favorite songs of hers, and had a couple albums out,

A southerner by birth, Joanne could put the twang into her singing voice and move doo wop to country.

Joanne dated my friend Bobby Darin just about before he met and married Sandra Dee. Like many of us her romances were reported, for better or worse, in fan magazines.

VIDEO REPLACED JAN 2014

MARY TRAVERS MOVES TO HEAVEN

Mary Travers, one third of the three part harmony of Peter, Paul, and Mary, the folk group who became famous recording Bob Dylan's composition, "Blowin In the Wind," and who we've blogged about in the past, has passed away at 72. Mary had been battling the blood cancer called luekemia for some time. You can link to the groups official site above. The net is flooded with news stories.

(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!

WES BRYAN PROMOS in JAPAN

This collage of images from my early career is from Japan. I induged myself in sculpture as a creative outlet when I was in New York. That's me looking like James Dean in a hard hat. The beautiful starlet (we'll write more about her later) that they had posing with me is Natalie Trundy. Oh what United Artists could do for one of their own!

Today Japan is still one of the great buyers of Rock-A-Billy music and memorabilia and well, that's why we have the translator in Japanese installed!

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...

SEPTEMBER 12 1962 PRESIDENT KENNEDY and THE SPACE PROGRAM

Elvis and me loved President Kennedy. On September 12, 1962 this was his invigorating speech about a dream to reach the moon. This is posted on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, an event that shattered our idea that we're safe on our home front. How I wish we as a nation could be where we were back when Kennedy made this speech!

"We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

1962 BEATLES LIVE AT CAVERN CLUB

Christine here. Today the remastered CD's of the Beatles came out! Here's a link to a CNN report and if you watch the video with the quick interview of producer Giles Martin (George Martin's son), you learn what modern recording studio technology can do and the challenges that were faced to bring forth better quality sound on the CD format. The original masters were used. And above is a historic video of the Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool circa 1962.

1962 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR...

...for me as a singer-songwriter. I was experiencing one of the best phases of my life.

CHRIS ISAAK AMERICAN BOY MY BLOG THEME SONG

Friends, in the Profile View of this Google Blog, Christine Trzyna and I chose Chris Isaak's song American Boy as the theme for this blog.

We thought this song's lyrics were all about me!

I want to send my love TO MY FAMILY today... Let the lyrics explain...

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

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