All the facts about rock hisory you need in one easy place. With a database of over 25,000 records and growing daily, we update posts about Elvis, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Jet, My Chemical Romance and many more. We include Video from YouTube, lyrics, and all the juicy facts that happen to your favorite stars. Tell you friends, leave comments, and enjoy history.
Finnegan’s Wake
What happens when a dearly loved Irishman passes on? Well, it’s time to celebrate his wake. This song is dedicated, no doubt, to the Irishman’s love of funerals and whiskey, “Finnegan’s Wake” supplied the theme for James Joyce’s famous novel of the same name.
The Unicorn Song
This “Irish song” is not really Irish at all, but the Irish Rovers found it and turned it into a St. Patrick’s Day classic.
Whiskey in the Jar
Metallica tried to turn it into a rock song, but it will always be a classic Irish tale of love and betrayal with a great chorus!
ABOUT:
Saint Patrick is believed to have been born in the late fourth century, and is often confused with Palladius, a bishop who was sent by Pope Celestine in 431 to be the first bishop to the Irish believers in Christ.
Saint Patrick was the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who is credited with bringing christianity to Ireland. Most of what is known about him comes from his two works, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Epistola, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish christians. Saint Patrick described himself as a “most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God.”
Saint Patrick is most known for driving the snakes from Ireland. It is true there are no snakes in Ireland, but there probably never have been – the island was separated from the rest of the continent at the end of the Ice Age. As in many old pagan religions, serpent symbols were common and often worshipped. Driving the snakes from Ireland was probably symbolic of putting an end to that pagan practice. While not the first to bring christianity to Ireland, it is Patrick who is said to have encountered the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan rites. The story holds that he converted the warrior chiefs and princes, baptizing them and thousands of their subjects in the “Holy Wells” that still bear this name.
There are several accounts of Saint Patrick’s death. One says that Patrick died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, on March 17, 460 A.D. His jawbone was preserved in a silver shrine and was often requested in times of childbirth, epileptic fits, and as a preservative against the “evil eye.” Another account says that St. Patrick ended his days at Glastonbury, England and was buried there. The Chapel of St. Patrick still exists as part of Glastonbury Abbey. Today, many Catholic places of worship all around the world are named after St. Patrick, including cathedrals in New York and Dublin city
Why Saint Patrick’s Day?
Saint Patrick’s Day has come to be associated with everything Irish: anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick’s Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide.
So, why is it celebrated on March 17th? One theory is that that is the day that St. Patrick died. Since the holiday began in Ireland, it is believed that as the Irish spread out around the world, they took with them their history and celebrations. The biggest observance of all is, of course, in Ireland. With the exception of restaurants and pubs, almost all businesses close on March 17th. Being a religious holiday as well, many Irish attend mass, where March 17th is the traditional day for offering prayers for missionaries worldwide before the serious celebrating begins.
In American cities with a large Irish population, St. Patrick’s Day is a very big deal. Big cities and small towns alike celebrate with parades, “wearing of the green,” music and songs, Irish food and drink, and activities for kids such as crafts, coloring and games. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green!
1911 – Robert Johnson is born this day in rock history. You remember the movie Crossroads… that was his song!
Robert Johnson, born Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. Considered by some to be the “Grandfather of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Rolling Stones, Paul Butterfield, The Band, Neil Young, Warren Zevon, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton, who called Johnson “the most important blues musician who ever lived”. He was also ranked fifth in Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Life and career
Johnson’s life is not well documented, and the variety of legends that have surrounded him for decades have made scholarship difficult. Serious research was not undertaken until the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably by researchers Mack McCormick and Stephen LaVere. Most of the information on his life has come from the decades-old recollections of surviving family and associates. The two known images of Johnson were located in 1973, in the possession of the musician’s half-sister Carrie Thompson, and were not widely published until the late 1980s.
Five significant dates from his career are documented: Monday, Thursday and Friday, November 23, 26, and 27, 1936 at a recording session in San Antonio, Texas. Seven months later, on Saturday and Sunday, June 19–20, 1937, he was in Dallas, Texas at another session. His death certificate was discovered in 1968, and lists the date and location of his death. Two marriage licenses for Johnson have also been located in county records offices. Other facts about him are less well established. Director Martin Scorsese says in his foreword to Alan Greenberg’s filmscript Love In Vain: A Vision of Robert Johnson, “The thing about Robert Johnson was that he only existed on his records. He was pure legend.”
Scarcely anything was known of Johnson’s origins until Mack McCormick traced and interviewed members of his family. The research has still not been published, so the biography is based entirely on trust. Such is McCormick’s reputation among his peers that no blues scholar seriously doubts his findings. Eventually, McCormick pemitted Peter Guralnick to publish a summary in Living Blues (1982), later reprinted in book form as Searching for Robert Johnson.
Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi sometime around May 8, 1911, the 11th child of Julia Major Dodds, who had previously borne ten children to husband Charles Dodds. Born out of wedlock, Johnson did not take the Dodds name.
Twenty two-year-old Charles Dodds had married Julia Major in Hazlehurst, Mississippi—about 35 miles (56 km) south of Jackson—in 1889. Charles Dodds owned land and made wicker furniture; his family was well off until he was forced out of Hazlehurst around 1909 by a lynch mob following an argument with some of the more prosperous townsfolk. (There was a family legend that Dodds escaped from Hazlehurst dressed in women’s clothing.) Over the next two years, Julia Dodds sent their children one at a time to live with their father in Memphis, where Charles Dodds had adopted the name of Charles Spencer. Julia stayed behind in Hazlehurst with two daughters, until she was evicted for nonpayment of taxes.
By that time she had given birth to a son, Robert, who was fathered by a field worker named Noah Johnson. Unwelcome in Charles Dodds’ home, Julia Dodds became an itinerant field worker, picking cotton and living in camps as she moved among plantations. While she worked in the fields, her eight-year-old daughter took care of Johnson. Over the next ten years, Julia Dodds would make repeated attempts to reunite the family, but Charles Dodds never stopped resenting her infidelity. Although Charles Dodds would eventually accept Johnson, he never would forgive his wife for giving birth to him.
Around 1914, Robert Johnson moved in with Charles Dodds’ family, which by that time included all of Dodds’ children by Julia Dodds, as well as Dodds’ mistress from Hazlehurst and their two children. Johnson would then spend the next several years in Memphis, and it was reportedly about this time that he began playing the guitar under his older half-brother’s tutelage.
Johnson did not rejoin his mother until she had remarried several years later. By the end of the decade, he was back in the Mississippi Delta living with his mother and her new husband, Dusty Willis. Johnson and his stepfather, who had little tolerance for music, did not get along, and Johnson had to slip out of the house to join his musician friends.
In the course of these these years, he was known by various names: Robert Dodds and Robert Spencer (his first stepfather’s real name and pseudonym), and Little Robert Dusty (after his second stepfather’s nickname). Finally he chose to use his birth name Robert Johnson after his natural father. He may also have wished to be associated with the great guitarist Lonnie Johnson. These changes of name largely explain the inability of researchers before McCormack to obtain information.
There are conflicting accounts of whether Johnson attended school or not. Later accounts portray him as illiterate or possessing beautiful handwriting. The question was settled with the discovery by Gayle Dean Wardlow of marriage certificates bearing the clear and attractive signature of Robert L Johnson.
In any case, everyone agrees that music was Johnson’s first interest, and that he had his start playing the Jew’s harp and harmonica in addition to guitar.
Son House recalled Johnson as a boy had followed him around and tried very unsuccessfully to copy him. He then left the Robbinsville area, but later reappeared with a miraculous guitar technique. His boast is entirely credible. Johnson later recorded versions of Preaching the Blues and Walking Blues in House’s vocal and guitar style. However, Son’s chronology is questioned by Guralnick. When House moved to Robbinsville in 1930, Johnson was a young adult, already married and widowed. The following year, he was living near Hazelhurst, where he married for the second time. From this base Johnson began travelling up and down the Delta as an itinerant musician.
Legend
According to a legend known to modern Blues fans, Robert Johnson was a young black man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi. Branded with a burning desire to become a great blues musician, he was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery’s plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large black man (the Devil) who took the guitar from Johnson, tuned the guitar so that he could play anything that he wanted, and handed it back to him in return for his soul. Within less than a year’s time, in exchange for his everlasting soul, Robert Johnson became the king of the Delta blues singers, able to play, sing, and create the greatest blues anyone had ever heard.
This legend was developed over time, and has been chronicled by Gayle Dean Wardlow, Edward Komara and Elijah Wald. Folk tales of bargains with the Devil have long existed in African American and White traditions, and were adapted into literature by Washington Irving in “The Devil and Tom Walker” in 1824, and by and Stephen Vincent Benet in “The Devil and Daniel Webster” in 1936. In the 1930s the folklorist Harry Middleton Hart recorded many tales of banjo players, violinists, card sharps and dice sharks selling their souls at the crossroads, along with guitarists and one accordionist. The folklorist Alan Lomax considered that every African American secular musician was “in the opinion of of both himself and his peers, a child of the devil, a consequence of the black view of the European dance embrace as sinful in the extreme”.
Johnson seems to have claimed occasionally that he had sold his soul to the Devil, but it is not clear that he meant it seriously. Son House once told the story to Pete Welding as an explanation of Johnson’s astonishingly rapid mastery of the guitar. Welding reported it as a serious belief in a widely read article in Down Beat in 1966. However, other interviewers failed to elicit any confirmation from House. Moreover, there were fully two years between House’s observation of Robert as first a novice and then a master. In 1982, Guralnick unintentionally added the crossroads details to the legend. He quoted the account given by Ledell Johnson to David Evans of how his brother Tommy Johnson (no relation to Robert) sold his soul to a large black man at a crossroads. Although Guralnick made it clear that the details belonged to the Tommy Johnson story, casual readers failed to notice, and the crossroads association passed into oral tradition, and then into popular written accounts. The myth was established in mass consciousness in 1986 by the film “Crossroads’. There are now tourist attractions claiming to be “The Crossroads” at Clarksdale and in Memphis.
Itinerant career
When Johnson arrived in a new town, he would play for tips on street corners or in front of the local barbershop or a restaurant. He played what his audience asked for — not necessarily his own compositions, and not necessarily blues. With an ability to pick up tunes at first hearing, Johnson had no trouble giving his audiences what they wanted, and certain of his contemporaries, most notably Johnny Shines, later remarked on Johnson’s interest in jazz and country. (Many giants of the blues, including Muddy Waters, were not averse to playing the hit songs of the day.) Johnson also had an uncanny ability to establish a rapport with his audience — in every town in which he stopped, Johnson would establish ties to the local community that would serve him well when he passed through again a month or a year later.
Fellow musician Johnny Shines was 17 when he met Johnson in 1933. He estimated that Johnson was maybe a year older than himself. In Samuel Charters’ Robert Johnson, the author quotes Shines as saying:
“Robert was a very friendly person, even though he was sulky at times, you know. And I hung around Robert for quite a while. One evening he disappeared. He was kind of peculiar fellow. Robert’d be standing up playing some place, playing like nobody’s business. At about that time it was a hustle with him as well as a pleasure. And money’d be coming from all directions. But Robert’d just pick up and walk off and leave you standing there playing. And you wouldn’t see Robert no more maybe in two or three weeks…. So Robert and I, we began journeying off. I was just, matter of fact, tagging along.”
During this time Johnson established what would be a relatively long-term relationship with Estella Coleman, a woman who was about fifteen years his elder and the mother of musician Robert Lockwood, Jr.. Johnson, however, reportedly also cultivated a woman to look after him in each town he played in. Johnson supposedly asked homely young women living in the country with their families whether he could go home with them, and in most cases the answer was yes—until a boyfriend arrived or Johnson was ready to move on.
Recording sessions
Around 1936, Johnson sought out H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi, who ran a general store and doubled as a talent scout. Speir, who helped the careers of many blues players, put Johnson in touch with Ernie Oertle, who offered to record the young musician in San Antonio, Texas. At the recording session, held on November 23, 1936 in rooms at the landmark Gunter Hotel which Brunswick Records had set up as a temporary studio, Johnson reportedly performed facing the wall. This has been cited as evidence he was a shy man and reserved performer, a conclusion played up in the inaccurate liner notes of the 1961 album King of the Delta Blues Singers. Johnson probably was nervous and intimidated at his first time in a makeshift recording studio (a new and alien environment for the musician), but in truth he was probably focusing on the demands of his emotive performances. In addition, playing into the corner of a wall was a sound-enhancing technique that simulated the acoustical booths of better-equipped studios. In the ensuing three-day session, Johnson played 16 selections, and recorded alternate takes for most of these. When the recording session was over, Johnson presumably returned home with cash in his pocket; probably more money than he’d ever had at one time in his life.
Among the songs Johnson recorded in San Antonio were “Come On In My Kitchen”, “Kind Hearted Woman Blues”, “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom”, and “Cross Road Blues”. “Come on in My Kitchen” included the lines: “The woman I love took from my best friend/Some joker got lucky, stole her back again,/You better come on in my kitchen, it’s going to be rainin’ outdoors.” In “Crossroad Blues”, another of his songs, he sang: “I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees./I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees./I asked the Lord above, have mercy, save poor Bob if you please./Uumb, standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride./Standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride./Ain’t nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by.”
When his records began appearing, Johnson made the rounds to his relatives and the various children he had fathered to bring them the records himself. The first songs to appear were “Terraplane Blues” and “Last Fair Deal Gone Down”, probably the only recordings of his that he would live to hear. “Terraplane Blues” became a moderate regional hit, selling 5,000 copies.
In 1937, Johnson traveled to Dallas, Texas, for another recording session in a makeshift studio at the Brunswick Record Building, 508 Park Avenue. Eleven records from this session would be released within the following year. Among them were the three songs that would largely contribute to Johnson’s posthumous fame: “Stones in My Passway”, “Me and the Devil”, and “Hellhound On My Trail”. “Stones In My Passway” and “Me And The Devil” are both about betrayal, a recurrent theme in country blues. The terrifying “Hell Hound On My Trail”—utilising another common theme of fear of the Devil—is often considered to be the crowning achievement of blues-style music. Other themes in Johnson’s music include impotence (“Dead Shrimp Blues” and “Phonograph Blues”) and infidelity (“Terraplane Blues”, “If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day” and “Love in Vain”).
Six of Johnson’s blues songs mention the devil or some form of the supernatural. In “Me And The Devil” he began, “Early this morning when you knocked upon my door,/Early this morning, umb, when you knocked upon my door,/And I said, ‘ Hello, Satan, I believe it’s time to go,’” before leading into “You may bury my body down by the highway side,/ You may bury my body, uumh, down by the highway side,/So my old evil spirit can get on a Greyhound bus and ride.”
It has been suggested that the Devil in these songs does not solely refer to the Christian model of Satan, but equally to the African trickster god, Legba.
Death
One of Robert Johnson’s three tombstonesIn the last year of his life, Johnson is believed to have traveled to St. Louis and possibly Illinois, and then to some states in the East. He spent some time in Memphis and traveled through the Mississippi Delta and Arkansas. By the time he died, at least six of his records had been released in the South as race records.
His death occurred on August 16, 1938, at the age of twenty-seven at a country crossroads near Greenwood, Mississippi. He had been playing for a few weeks at a country dance in a town about 15 miles (24 km) from Greenwood.
There are a number of accounts and theories regarding the events preceding Johnson’s death. One of these is that one evening Johnson began flirting with a woman at a dance. One version of this rumor says she was the wife of the juke joint owner who unknowingly provided Johnson with a bottle of poisoned whiskey from her husband, while another suggests she was a married woman he had been secretly seeing. Researcher Mack McCormick claims to have interviewed Johnson’s alleged poisoner in the 1970s, and obtained a tacit admission of guilt from the man. When Johnson was offered an open bottle of whiskey, his friend and fellow blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson knocked the bottle out of his hand, informing him that he should never drink from an offered bottle that has already been opened. Johnson allegedly said, “don’t ever knock a bottle out of my hand”. Soon after, he was offered another open bottle of whiskey and accepted it, and it was that bottle that was laced with strychnine. Johnson is reported to have started to feel ill into the evening after drinking from the bottle and had to be helped back to his room in the early morning hours. Over the next three days, his condition steadily worsened and witnesses reported that he died in a convulsive state of severe pain – symptoms which are consistent with strychnine poisoning. Strychnine was readily available at the time as it was a common pesticide, and although it is a very bitter-tasting substance it is extremely toxic, and a small quantity dissolved in a harsh-tasting solution such as whiskey could possibly have gone unnoticed, but (over a period of days due to the reduced dosage) still produced the symptoms and eventual death that Johnson experienced.
The precise location of his grave remains a source of ongoing controversy, and three different markers have been erected at supposed burial sites outside of Greenwood. Research in the 1980s and 1990s strongly suggests Johnson was buried in the graveyard of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist church near Morgan City, Mississippi, not far from Greenwood, in an unmarked grave. A cenotaph memorial was placed at this location in 1990 paid for by Columbia Records and numerous smaller contributions made through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund. More recent research by Stephen LaVere (including statements from Rosie Eskridge, the wife of the supposed gravedigger) indicates that the actual grave site is under a big pecan tree in the cemetery of the Little Zion Church north of Greenwood along Money Road. Sony Music has placed a marker at this site.
In 1938, Columbia Records producer John Hammond, who owned some of Johnson’s records, sought him out to book him for the first “From Spirituals to Swing” concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. On learning of Johnson’s death, Hammond replaced him with Big Bill Broonzy, but still played two of Johnson’s records from the stage. Robert Johnson has a son, Claude Johnson, and grandchildren who currently reside in a town near Hazlehurst, Mississippi.
Discography
Eleven Johnson 78s were released on the Vocalion label during his lifetime, with a twelfth issued posthumously. All songs copyrighted to Robert Johnson, and his estate.
2007 – Stu Sweatman begins prototyping the idea for “THIS DAY IN ROCK” website, where you can find many facts about musicians and what happend on a given day in history!
He joined forces with John Myer’s to create the information base you see. Although the site contains facts from all genres, we tried to focus in on Rock in all forms.
1998 – Singer/songwriter Jimmy Driftwood dies in Fayetteville, Ark., of a heart attack. He is 91. Driftwood, who was born James Corbett Morris, was best known for writing the Grammy-winning songs “The Battle Of New Orleans,” “Wilderness Road,” and Tennessee Stud.
Early life
Driftwood was born in Mountain View, Arkansas on 20 June 1907. Driftwood’s father was folk singer Neil Morris. Driftwood learned to play guitar at a young age on his grandfather’s homemade instrument. Driftwood used the unique guitar throughout his career and noted that its neck was made from a fence rail, its sides from an old ox yoke, and the head and bottom from the headboard of his grandmother’s bed. This homemade instrument produced a pleasant distinctive resonant sound. Driftwood attended John Brown College in northwest Arkansas and later received a degree in education from Arkansas State Teacher’s College. He started writing songs during his teaching career to teach his students history in an entertaining manner.
The 1920s and 1930s
During the 1920s and 1930s Driftwood left Arkansas and took to the road, eventually hitchhiking his way through the southwestern United States. In Arizona he entered, and won, a local song contest.
In 1936 Driftwood married Cleda Johnson, who was a former student and returned to Arkansas to raise a family and resume his teaching career. During this period of his life Driftwood wrote hundreds of songs but did not pursue a musical career seriously.
He wrote his later famous “Battle of New Orleans” song in 1936 to help get a high school class he was teaching interested in the subject.
The 1950s
In the 1950s he changed his name to “Jimmy Driftwood” both publicly and legally.
In 1957 a Nashville, Tennessee song publisher heard of Driftwood, auditioned him, and signed him to his first record deal. Driftwood recalled playing some 100 of his songs in one day, of which 20 were chosen to be recorded. Driftwood’s first album Newly Discovered Early American Folk Songs received good reviews but did not sell particularly well.
“The Battle of New Orleans” was included on the album, but did not fit in the radio standards for airplay at the time because of the words “hell” and “damn” in the lyrics. Driftwood said that at the time those words could be preached but not sung in secular contexts for broadcast. Driftwood was asked to make a shorter censored version of the song for a live radio performance. Singer Johnny Horton, after hearing the song, contacted Driftwood, saying he wished to record his own version.
Driftwood left Arkansas for Nashville and became popular through his appearances at major country music venues such as the Grand Ole Opry, the Ozark Jubilee, the Louisiana Hayride. He was invited to sing for Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev as an example of traditional American music during that leader’s visit to the United States.
The popular peak of Driftwood’s career came in 1959 when he had no less than six songs somewhere on the pop or country charts, including singer Johnny Horton’s recording of his The Battle of New Orleans which remained on top of the country singles chart for ten weeks, and atop the pop charts for 6 weeks, in 1959. The song won the 1960 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The Battle of New Orleans has since become an American classic country/folk song. After Horton’s hit Driftwood became very popular and performed at Carnegie Hall and at major American folk festivals before returning home to Timbo, Arkansas in 1962. During his recording career Driftwood also won Grammy Awards for Wilderness Road, Songs of Billy Yank and Johnny Reb and Tennessee Stud. Driftwood songs were recorded by Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Homer and Jethro, Odetta and others.
The 1960s
Driftwood for a time in the 1960s toured the United States and Europe with the Preservation Hall New Orleans jazz band, although appearing as a separate act.
Back home, Driftwood formed the Rackensack Folklore Society, an association of local folk singers and musicians, and began performing at the local county fair in Mountain View. Driftwood became interested in promoting Arkansas folk music and the local folk performers he knew in the area. Driftwood invited members of the Mountain View community to perform at a festival of his own devising. This festival grew exponentially over the years and transformed into the annual Arkansas Folk Festival which would attract over 100,000 people. Driftwood was also a guiding light in establishing the Ozark Folk Center to preserve Ozark Mountain culture. The Folk Center was later absorbed into the Arkansas State Park system and remains a popular tourist destination.
Environmental issues
Driftwood also became involved in environmental issues when the United States Army Corps of Engineers planned to dam the Buffalo River. Driftwood worked to defeat the plan, which ultimately led to the establishment of the Buffalo National River. Driftwood played a major role in preserving Blanchard Springs Caverns which later came under management of the United States Forest Service. He sings the song heard in the orientation film in the visitor center.
Driftwood was appointed to head the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Commission for his environmental efforts. He was also named to the Advisory Committee of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.. Due to his extensive knowledge of folk music he was appointed as a musicologist for the National Geographic Society.
Song output
During his career Driftwood wrote over 6,000 folksongs, of which over 300 were recorded by various musicians. In later life Driftwood enjoyed performing free concerts for high school and college students.
Leo fender is a true veteren innovator in the field of music. His most famous creations include the Fender Stratocaster and the Fender Telecator. These guitars, although are not the his only creations, set the tone for we now know as Rock n Roll and all the successive genre’s that came to follow. The Stratocaster is the most copied guitar in history and is a true icon. We cannot think of rock without thinking of this one iconic guitar.
WE SALUTE YOU!
Stu: editor
From Musician’s Friend, YouTube, GuitarGearHeads.com,
Clarence Leo Fender came into the world on August 10, 1909, at the family ranch in California. His parents ran a succesful orange grove, located between the cities of Anaheim and Fullerton. Leo became interested in electronics around age 13, most likely from his uncle, who had built a radio from parts.
Leo began dismantling and repairing radios himself as a hobby, never afraid to tinker with electronics to see what the result would be. In 1928, Leo enrolled in junior college as an accounting major. Leo was sharpening the business acumen that would serve him well throughout his career.
Two events in the early 1930′s would change Leo’s life. One was when, in the early 1930′s, he was approached by a bandleader to construct a PA system for use at dances. The second, around the same time, was when Leo met Esther Klosky. Esther became Mrs. Leo Fender in 1934.
Trying the safe route first, Leo hired on with the State of California as an accountant. In 1938, he took a chance and opened the Fender Radio Service in downtown Fullerton. Soon, musicians began coming to Leo in search of improved guitars and amplifiers. Fender began K & F Manufacturing with fellow inventor Doc Kauffman (who designed guitars for Rickenbacker) in a shed behind the radio shop where, in 1945, he unveiled his first electric guitar.
In 1946, Leo opened the Fender Electric Instrument Company in Fullerton. It was there that he created the legendary Telecaster and Stratocaster — arguably, the most popular and successful guitar designs in history.
Fender moved the small factory to 500 S. Raymond Ave. in Fullerton, and, in 1965, sold it to CBS Musical Instruments.
Although, by his own admission, he “could not play a note,” Fender went on to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music halls of fame — recognition of the tremendous impact he had on contemporary society through his musical inventions.
After the non-competition clause expired in the CBS sale agreement, Leo began designing guitars and basses for Music Man. The Sting Ray and Sabre are two Fender designs. In the 1980s, Leo opened the G&L business on Fender Avenue (named for him) in Fullerton. He continued to work there every day until his death on March 21, 1991, from complications from Parkinson’s Disease.
From Wikipedia:
Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991), also known as Leo Fender, was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and later founded G&L Musical Products (G&L Guitars). His guitar, bass, and amplifier designs from the 1950s continue to dominate popular music more than half a century later. Marshall and many other amplifier companies have used Fender instruments as the foundation of their products. Fender and inventor Les Paul are often cited as the two most influential figures in the development of electric instruments in the 20th century. 1950 to 1965: the Golden Age
As the Big Bands fell out of vogue toward the end of World War II, small combos playing boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, western swing, and honky-tonk formed throughout the United States. Many of these outfits embraced the electric guitar because it could give a few players the power of an entire horn section. Pickup-equipped archtops were the guitars of choice in the dance bands of the late-’40s , but the increasing popularity of roadhouses and dance halls created a growing need for louder, cheaper, and more durable instruments. Players also needed faster necks and better intonation to play what the country boys called “take-off lead guitar”. Custom-made solidbodies such as Les Paul’s home-made “Log” and the Bigsby Travis guitar made by Bigsby for Merle Travis evolved from this need, but these were beyond the means of the average player.
Guitar
Fender recognized the potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, easy to tune, and easy to play. He also recognized that players needed guitars that would not feed back at dance hall volumes as the typical archtop would. In addition, Fender sought a tone that would command attention on the bandstand and cut through the noise in a bar. By 1949, he had begun working in earnest on what would become the first Telecaster at the Fender factory in Fullerton, California.
Although he never admitted it, Fender seemed to base his practical design on the Rickenbacker Bakelite. (Smith, Richard (May). History of the Fender Telecaster. ) One of the Rickenbacker’s strong points — a detachable neck that made it easy to make and service — was not lost on Fender, who was a master at improving already established designs. Not surprisingly, his first prototype was a single-pickup guitar with a detachable hard rock maple neck and a pine body painted white. (Smith, Richard (May). History of the Fender Telecaster. )
Esquire
Don Randall, who managed Fender’s distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company, recognized the commercial possibilities of the new design and made plans to introduce the instrument as “The Esquire Model”. Fender supported the Esquire name, saying that it “sounded regal and implied a certain distinction above other guitars.”
In April 1950, Radio-Tel started promoting the Esquire — the first Fender 6-string officially introduced to the public. The company prepared its Catalog No. 2, picturing a black single-pickup Esquire with a tweed form-fit case. Another picture showed Jimmy Wyble of Spade Cooley’s band holding a blond Esquire. These debut models, with a planned retail price of $154.95, exhibited the shape of thousands of Fender guitars to come.
Randall’s primary marketing ploy was to establish the Esquire in music instruction studios, reasoning that the affordable, practical guitar would be a hot commodity in those circles. In addition, a healthy response for the one-pickup version would prime the market for the more expensive two-pickup model that Fender already had in mind.
Broadcaster
The factory went into full production in late 1950, initially producing only dual-pickup Esquires. Fender’s decision compromised Radio-Tel’s earlier marketing strategy, forcing Randall to hold orders for the single-pickup Esquire and come up with a new name for the two-pickup model, eventually naming it the Broadcaster. Dealers who insisted on Esquires had to wait until the single-pickup guitars went into full production in January 1951 and were delivered the following month.
Musical Merchandise magazine carried the first announcement for the Broadcaster in February 1951 with a full-page insert that described it in detail. The guitar was described as having a “modern cut-away body”, a “modern styled head”, and an “adjustable solo-lead pickup” that was “completely adjustable for tone-balance by means of three elevating screws”.
Legal problems – “Broadcaster” becomes “Telecaster”
Fender sold 87 Broadcasters on the guitar’s initial release in January 1951. Many people took note — including Gretsch, who claimed the Broadcaster name infringed on the company’s trademark “Broadkaster”. Reacting to this, Randall informed his salespeople on February 21 that Radio-Tel was abandoning the Broadcaster name and requesting suggestions for a new name. On February 24 he announced that the Broadcaster had been renamed the “Telecaster”.
The Broadcaster-to-Telecaster name change cost Radio-Tel hundreds of dollars, and derailed the initial marketing effort. Brochures and envelope inserts were destroyed, and the word “Broadcaster” was clipped from hundreds of headstock decals. For several months, the new twin-pickup guitars were marked only with the word “Fender.” These early-to-mid-’51 guitars would eventually be referred to as “No-casters” by guitar collectors.
Stratocaster
Leo Fender regularly sought feedback from his customers, and, in preparation for redesigning the Telecaster he asked his customers what new features they would want on the Telecaster. The large number of replies, along with the continued popularity of the Telecaster, caused him to leave the Telecaster as it was and to design a new, upscale solid body guitar to be sold alongside the basic Telecaster instead. Western swing guitarist Bill Carson was one of the chief critics of the Telecaster, stating that the new design should have individually adjustable bridge saddles, four or five pickups, a vibrato unit that could be used in either direction and return to proper tuning, and a contoured body for enhanced comfort over the slab-body Telecaster’s harsh edges. Fender and draughtsman Freddy Tavares began designing the new guitar in late 1953, which would address most of Carson’s ideas and would also include a rounder, less “club-like” neck (at least for the first year of issue) and a double cutaway for easier reach to the upper registers.
Released in 1954, Fender named his new creation the Stratocaster to invoke images of the high flying, supersonic jets filling America’s skies in the 1950′s. The Stratocaster (or “Strat”) has been in continuous production ever since.
Other guitars
Other significant developments of this period include the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, significant departures from the Strat and Tele in their introduction of complex pickup selection switches and volume controls. Although unsuccessful at their introduction, both would become popular with Surf Rock musicians due to their clean, bright, and warm tone. They became popular again, (to a much larger extent), in the early 90′s due to their use by alternative rock artists such as Sonic Youth’s famous horde of vintage Jazzmasters and Kurt Cobain’s (of Nirvana) use of a heavily modified 1965 Jaguar on stage and in the bands music videos.
Bass
During this time, Fender also conceived an instrument that would prove to be essential to the evolution of popular music. Up until this time, bassists had been left to playing acoustically resonating double basses, also known as “upright basses”. As the size of bands and orchestras grew, bassists found themselves increasingly fighting for volume and presence in the sound spectrum. Apart from their sonic disadvantages, double basses were also large, bulky, and difficult to transport. With the Precision Bass (or “P-Bass”), released in 1951, Leo Fender addressed both of these issues. Unlike double basses, the Telecaster-based Precision Bass was small and portable, and its solid body construction and four magnet, single coil electronic pickup allowed it to be amplified at higher volumes without the feedback issues normally associated with acoustic instruments. Along with the Precision Bass (so named because its fretted neck allowed bassists to play with precision), Fender introduced a bass amplifier, the Fender Bassman; a 45 watt amplifier with four 10″ speakers. Neither were firsts; Audiovox had begun advertising an “electric bass fiddle” in mid 1930s catalogs, and Ampeg had introduced a 12 watt “Bassamp” in 1949, but the P-Bass and its accompanying amplifier were the first widely-produced of their kind, and arguably, the P-Bass remains one of the most popular basses in music today.
1960 saw the release of the Jazz Bass, a sleeker, updated bass with a slimmer neck, and offset waist body and two single coil pickups (as opposed to the Precision Bass and its split-humbucking pickup that had been introduced in 1957). Like its predecessor, the Jazz Bass (or simply “J-Bass”) was an instant hit and has remained popular to this day, and early models are highly sought after by collectors.
1970 – Music Man and G&L
Some of Fender’s most widely known and loved contributions to music were developed in the 1970s, when Leo Fender designed guitars, basses and amplifiers for the Music Man corporation, and in 1976 designed and released another innovative instrument, the StingRay. Though the body design borrowed heavily from the Precision Bass, the StingRay is largely considered to be the first production bass with active electronics. The StingRay’s 2-band active equalizer, high output humbucking pickup and smooth satin finished neck went on to become a favorite of many influential bassists, including John Deacon and Tim Commerford. Later on a 3-band active equalizer was introduced. In 1979 he and old friends George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt started a new company called G&L (George & Leo, later Guitars by Leo)[citation needed] Musical Products. G&L guitar designs tended to lean heavily upon the looks of Fender’s original guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, but incorporated innovations such as enhaced tremolo systems and electronics. Despite suffering several minor strokes, Leo Fender continued to produce guitars and basses. While he continued to refine the fundamental designs he had created decades earlier, he also earned many new patents for innovative designs in magnetic pickups, vibrato systems, neck construction, and other areas. Nevertheless, he never learned how to play the guitar.
A friendly, modest and unassuming man (his “coffee mug” was a styrofoam cup with the word “Leo” inked on it), he had the lifelong admiration and devotion of his employees, many of whom have remarked that the best working years of their lives were spent under Leo Fender. He died in 1991 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. His pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The company which bears his name, Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, is now one of the largest musical instrument conglomerates in the world.
Leo Fender Biography
Clarence Leonidas Fender was born on August 10, 1909, to Clarence Monte Fender and Harriet Elvira Wood, owners of a successful orange grove located between Anaheim and Fullerton, CA.
From an early age, Leo showed an interest in tinkering with electronics. When he was 13 years old, his uncle, who ran an automotive-electric shop, sent him a box filled with discarded car radio parts, and a battery. The following year, Leo visited his uncle’s shop in Santa Maria, CA, and was fascinated by a radio his uncle had built from spare parts and placed on display in the front of the shop. Leo later claimed that the loud music coming from the speaker of that radio made a lasting impression on him. Soon thereafter, Leo began repairing radios in a small shop in his parents’ home.
In the spring of 1928, Leo graduated from Fullerton Union High School, and entered Fullerton Junior College that fall, as an accounting major. While he was studying to be an accountant, he continued to teach himself electronics, and tinker with radios and other electrical items. He never took any kind of electronics course while in college.
After college, Fender took a job as a deliveryman for Consolidated Ice and Cold Storage Company in Anaheim, where he later was made the bookkeeper. It was around this time that a local band leader approached Leo, asking him if he could build a public address system for use by the band at dances in Hollywood. Fender was contracted to build six of these PA systems.
In 1933, Fender met Esther Klosky, and they were married in 1934. About that time, Leo took a job as an accountant for the California Highway Department in San Luis Obispo. In a depression government change-up, Leo’s job was eliminated, and he then took a job in the accounting department of a tire company. After working there six months, Leo lost his job along with the other accountants in the company.
So, in 1938, with $600 dollars he borrowed, Leo and Esther returned to Fullerton, and Leo started his own radio repair shop, known as “Fender Radio Service”. Soon thereafter, musicians and band leaders began coming to Leo for PA systems, which he began building, selling and renting, and for amplification for the amplified acoustic guitars that beginning to show up in the southern California music scene, in big band and jazz music, and for the electric “Hawaiian” or “lap steel” guitars becoming popular in country music.
During WWII, Leo met Clayton Orr “Doc” Kauffman, an inventor and lap steel player, who had worked for Rickenbacker Guitars, a company that had been building and selling lap steel guitars for a decade. While with Rickenbacker, Kauffman had invented the “Vibrola Tailpiece”…the precursor to the later “vibrato” or “tremolo” tailpiece. Leo convinced Doc that they should team up, and they started the “K & F Manufacturing Corporation”, to design and build amplified Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers. In 1944, Leo and Doc patented a lap steel guitar, that had an electric pickup already patented by Fender. In 1945, they began selling the guitar, in a kit with an amplifier designed by Leo.
By the beginning of 1946, Leo had decided that building and selling musical instruments and amplifiers would be much more profitable than repairing them. Doc was unconvinced, pulled out of the company, and they parted ways. Leo changed the name of the company to “Fender Electric Instrument Company”, and specialized in Fender lap steel guitars, and amplifiers.
Early in WWII, it was clearly shown that electric circuits had to be rugged to withstand the rigors of military use. Leo realized that amplifiers should be similarly rugged to withstand the abuse they would receive by traveling musicians, so he designed Fender amplifiers to be extremely rugged. During 1946, Fender designed and began manufacturing the Deluxe, the Professional, and the Dual Professional, along with the Princeston, a 4-watt practice amp. Pushing from 18 to 45 watts, these were easily the most powerful amplifiers commercially produced. With heavy steel chassis, chromed control plates, and heavy pine cases covered with tweed fabric, Fender amps caught on immediately. In 1948, Fender began the “Champion” series of practice amp, which eventually was called “The Champ” and became the most popular amplifier built.
Also in 1948, engineer George Fullerton was hired by Leo, beginning a partnership and friendship that would last for more than 40 years.
By this time, all commercially available amplified “spanish style” (non-lap styled) guitars were acoustic guitars with pickups added. Rickenbacker had designed a spanish styled guitar made of bakelite, a predecessor to plastic, in 1935, and surely Leo was aware of its existence from Doc Kauffman. 15 miles from Fullerton, inventor and guitarist Les Paul was experimenting with a solid body “spanish neck” electric guitar he eventually called “the log”. But, it pretty much has been accepted that Leo got the idea for designing a solid body spanish styled electric guitar from country guitarist Merle Travis, who had designed a solid body electric guitar and had one built for him by Paul Bixby, another southern California lap steel builder.
In 1948, Leo Fender began work on a solid bodied spanish style electric guitar. In the spring of 1950, the first commercially available, mass produced, solid bodied spanish styled electric guitar was introduced, the Fender Esquire. The Esquire had one pickup; the body was one solid piece of ash wood; the neck was one solid piece of maple wood without a truss rod inserted, and was bolted onto the body instead of the traditional method of gluing the neck to the body; the tuning heads were located all on one side of the neck, and were designed in a way that the strings were parallel to the body of the guitar from the tuning head to the bridge. The Esquire had a tone selector switch, a volume knob, and one tone knob. It was available it two colors, black with a white scratch plate, and semi-transparent “butterscotch blond” with a white scratch plate. Most early models were of the latter color.
In June, 1950, Fender added a two-pickup model of the Esquire, and in November, it acquired a neck truss rod, and was renamed the “Broadcaster”. In early 1951, Gretch Musical Instrument company sent a telegram to Leo, complaining of his use of the name “Broadcaster”, as Gretch had a line of drums called “Broadkaster”. Fearing legal action, and being a newcomer to the musical instrument industry, Leo immediately stopped putting the name label on the Broadcasters until he could come up with a suitable new name. The guitars manufactured in this interim period are now known as “nocasters” and are rare and extremely desired. In late 1951, Leo changed the name to “Telecaster”, to relate the guitar to the new and increasingly popular medium of television.
The Esquire, Broadcaster, and Telecaster caught on quickly, mostly with country music guitarists…probably because country music was extremely popular in southern California at the time. Within a year or two, the Chicago based blues guitarist Muddy Waters could be seen playing one. Its distinctive “twangy” sound became a standard for country music, and remains so today. The Telecaster of the 2000′s is relatively unchanged from the original Telecaster.
The “upright bass” or “double bass” was a problem for most bands. It is large, unwieldy, hard to successfully amplify, and is easily damaged. The first solid bodied fretted electric bass guitar was introduced by Audiovox in 1935. It really never caught on, obviously due to the lack of proper amplification. In late 1951, Fender introduced the Precision Bass, a single-pickup solid bodied bass guitar with a 34″ scale. With a fretted neck, and a double-cutaway body, the bassist was able to play “with precision”, hence the name. In early 1952, Fender introduced “The Bassman” amplifier, a 35 watt amplifier designed for the Precision Bass. Author’s note: supposedly, the Precision Bass caught on immediately. This early popularity was obviously in Jazz bands, because electric bass isn’t found in pop, blues, or rock and roll until 1955-1956. In blues and the earliest rock and roll, the upright bass often served as a percussive instrument as well as a stringed instrument.
Despite the immediate popularity of the Telecaster, there were many guitarists that didn’t really care for its signature “twangy” sound, and many guitarists complained of its sharp edges uncomfortably biting into their sides while playing for long periods of time. To answer these complaints, in 1954 Fender introduced the Stratocaster. With three pickups instead of two, a modern shaped, contoured body, reminiscent of the “wings” that were beginning to appear on cars, a “vibrato tailpiece” that allowed the guitarist to “bend” notes, and a name that made one think of outer space, the “Strat” was an instant hit, and eventually became the single most popular electric guitar. The Strat’s contoured body style followed over to the Precision Bass.
The Bassman amp went through several changes through the 1950′s. In 1958, Fender began using the circuit design designated “5F6-A”, and this particular circuit was used through 1960. Though a mediocre bass amp, guitarists loved the tone and power of this amp, and it became much more popular for guitars than basses, Many people considered it to be the perfect guitar amp. In the 1960′s, many amplifier manufacturers designed guitar amps based off of this circuit…including Jim Marshall. An amplifier based on the 5F6-A with a few modifications launched Marshall Amplification.
In 1960, Fender introduced the “Deluxe Model” of the Precision Bass. Leo felt that a thinner neck would appeal to jazz musicians, and aid in the transition from upright to electric bass. The body was less symmetrical than the Precision, more like the recently introduced Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars. The two pickups opposed to the single split pickup on the standard Precision Bass gave it a totally different sound.
The Telecaster, Precision Bass, Stratocaster, and Jazz Bass are testaments to the innovation of Leo Fender. All four instruments have remained extremely popular, and modern versions have changed very little from Leo’s original designs. Likewise, Leo’s “Tweed” amplifiers are considered by many the best amps ever made, and the originals fetch huge sums of money. Also, in the late 1990′s, mostly due to the internet, and the renewed availability of quality vacuum tubes, a new industry began to spring up, boutique amplifiers. Boutique amps are high quality hand built copies of classic amps, and the most popular are the 5F6-A Bassman, the 5F1 Champ (designed by Fender in 1955), the 5E3 Deluxe (also 1955), and the 5E8-A Twin (also 1955). Copies of these amps are also very popularly built by do-it-yourselfers, and kits are available of these circuits by several companies.
Leo worked feverously into the 1960′s. He was a workoholic, usually working late into the night, and often working seven days a week. He worked both on the business and R&D sides of the company. By early 1964, he was totally exhausted, and his health was failing. In late 1964, he was approached by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), who was looking to get into the musical instrument business. At the end of the year, Leo sold his beloved company to CBS for $13 million. Part of the agreement between CBS and Leo was a “non-compete clause”. Leo agreed that he would not participate in the musical instrument industry for 10 years after the sale.
In 1971, Leo, Forrest White, and Tom Walker, formed a new company called “Tri-sonics, Inc”. Leo and Tom began designing amps, and Forrest began designing guitars, all carefully designed not to be confused with CBS Fender instruments. Later, they changed the name to “Musictek, Inc”, and by January 1974, to “Musicman, Inc”. During this time, Leo did not take an active role in the company, and did not until 1975, when it was officially announced that he had been elected president of the company.
Musicman was fairly successful in the beginning, but the late 1970s was a hard time for guitar and amplifier manufacturers. They made rugged amplifiers, and functional guitars with enhanced electronics.
In 1979, Leo’s beloved wife Esther died of cancer. He remarried in 1980.
By 1985, the performance of the company was bad enough that Leo left, and the company was sold to Ernie and Sterling Ball.
After leaving Musicman, Leo once again teamed up with George Fullerton, and they formed G & L Guitars. G&L Guitars were styled similarly to Fender’s original guitars, with some cosmetic differences, but had much more modern electronics and tremolo systems.
Leo continued to refine the designs he had originally created, and received many patents for his later designs of pickups and tremolo systems, and neck designs.
Leo worked at G&L every day…he actually went to work the day before his death on March 21, 1991…despite having several small strokes and Parkinson’s Disease. He remained the same man he had always been, hard working to near obsessive, friendly, unassuming…his coffee cup was a styrofoam cup with “Leo” written on the side with a black marker. This man, who singlehandedly changed the music industry, and did more than any other one person to create the modern electric guitar, though he had taken piano lessons as a child, and played saxophone in the high school band, never learned how to play guitar.
1961 – Runaround Sue (Dion) was a hit on this day in rock history!
Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter who blended elements of doo-wop, pop, and R&B styles.
Early years
Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx. As a child, he used to accompany his father, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly Hank Williams – and the blues and doo-wop stars he heard in local bars and on the radio. His singing abilities were honed on the street corners of Crotona Avenue, where he rounded up other local singers inventing a cappella licks, and in local clubs.
In early 1957 he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz, who had just formed Mohawk Records. They recorded him with a vocal group, The Timberlanes, and released a single “The Chosen Few”, arranged by Hugo Montenegro, which became a minor regional hit.
Career
With the Belmonts, 1957-1960
See main article Dion and the Belmonts
Schwartz also signed up Dion’s friends, The Belmonts, named after nearby Belmont Avenue. Their breakthrough together came in early 1958, when “I Wonder Why” made #22 on the national US charts, followed up with “No One Knows” and “Don’t Pity Me” which were also chart hits.
This success won Dion and the Belmonts a place on the “Winter Dance Party” tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing in Clear Lake, Iowa, Dion decided that he could not afford the $36 cost of a flight to the next venue. The plane crashed, and Holly and the other stars were killed, still the tour continued with Jimmy Clanton and Bobby Vee being added to the bill as replacements. Dion and the Belmonts continued to perform until the end of the tour.
In March 1959, Dion and the Belmonts’ next single, “A Teenager in Love”, was released, making #5 in the US pop charts and #28 in the UK. Their biggest hit, “Where or When”, was released in November 1959, and reached #3 on the US charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked in to hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October of 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. The main reason was because of his heroin addiction.
Solo stardom, 1960-1964
By the end of 1960, Dion had recorded and released his first solo album, Alone with Dion, and the single “Lonely Teenager”, which rose to #12 in the US charts. The performer name on his solo releases was denoted simply as “Dion” without the last name. Follow-ups “Havin’ Fun” and “Kissin’ Game” had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded, with new vocal group the Del-Satins, an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca. The record, “Runaround Sue”, stormed up the charts, reaching #1 in the US charts in September 1961, and #11 in the UK, where he also toured.
For the next single, the record company promoted the A-side, “The Majestic”, but it was the B-side, Maresca’s song “The Wanderer”, which received the radio plays and again rose swiftly up the charts, reaching #2 in the US charts in December 1961 and #10 in the UK. As a classic oldie, it made the UK top 20 again in 1976.
By the end of 1961, Dion was a major star, with a worldwide touring schedule, and an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. He followed up with a string of hit singles – “Lovers Who Wander” (#3), “Little Diane” (#8), “Love Came To Me” (#10) – all making the top 10 in 1962. Several of these were written or co-written by Dion. He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander.
At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records, the first rock-and-roll artist ever signed to that label. The first Columbia single, Leiber and Stoller’s “Ruby Baby”, was a big hit, reaching #2, and “Donna the Prima Donna” and “Drip Drop” both reached #6 in the charts in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of “Donna the Prima Donna” using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his addiction and changing public tastes caused him to enter a period of commercial decline.
Changing fortunes, 1964-1968
Following a European tour, Dion returned to the USA and was introduced to classic blues music by Columbia’s John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “Spoonful”, but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.
In 1966, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts for the album Together Again on ABC Records. Again, this bombed, despite one classic self-penned song, “My Girl The Month Of May”. Although by this stage Dion’s career appeared to be nearing an end, he retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of the only two pop artists featured on the album cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious experience. After getting clean from drug use, he approached Laurie Records for a new contract, and they agreed on condition that he record the song “Abraham, Martin and John”, written by Dick Holler (also the writer of The Royal Guardsmen’s “Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron”) in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and those of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy during the summer of 1968. The success of this song – later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye – which reached # 4 in the US charts and #1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion’s career.
The mature period, 1968-1986
For the next few years, Dion’s music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to critical acclaim but moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969.
There followed a one-off live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden in 1972, released on album. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born To Be With You, produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who.
In 1978 Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another critical success and commercial failure. In December 1979 he experienced a life-changing religious experience. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released a number of albums on the Dayspring label reflecting his religious convictions.
Recent work
In 1987 Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. This helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.
In 1988 Dion’s autobiography (co-authored by Davin Seay) titled The Wanderer: Dion’s Story was published. In the following year, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the induction speech being given by Lou Reed.
In 1989 he returned to secular rock music with the album Yo Frankie, and since then has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. Dion joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of “If I Should Fall Behind” from Deja Nu.
He joined Scott Kempner of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of The Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.
In January 2006, he released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was critically acclaimed and nominated for a Grammy. In November 2007 he issued a follow-up in similar vein, Son of Skip James.
As a practicing Catholic, Dion pursues prison ministry and reaches out to men going through addiction recovery. He now lives in Boca Raton, Florida
* 1959: Presenting Dion & The Belmonts
* 1960: Wish Upon a Star With Dion & The Belmonts
* 1961: Alone With Dion
* 1961: Runaround Sue #11
* 1962: Lovers Who Wander #12
* 1962: Love Came to Me
* 1963: Dion Sings to Sandy’ (and all his other gals)’ #115
* 1963: Ruby Baby #20
* 1963: Donna the Prima Donna
* 1967: Dion & The Belmonts – Together Again
* 1968: Dion #128
* 1969: Wonder Where I’m Bound
* 1970: Sit Down Old Friend
* 1971: You’re Not Alone
* 1971: Sanctuary #200
* 1972: Suite For Late Summer #197
* 1973: Dion & The Belmonts – Reunion, Live at Madison Square Garden #144
* 1975: Born to Be With You
* 1976: Streetheart
* 1978: Return of the Wanderer
* 1980: Inside Job
* 1981: Only Jesus
* 1984: I Put Away My Idols CCM #37
* 1984: Seasons
* 1985: Kingdom in the Streets
* 1986: Velvet & Steel
* 1989: Yo Frankie #130
* 1990: Fire in the Night (recorded 1979)
* 1992: Dream on Fire
* 1993: Rock ‘n’ Roll Christmas
* 2000: Déjà Nu
* 2003: New Masters
* 2005: Live New York City
* 2006: Bronx in Blue #2 Blues Lps.
* 2007: Son of Skip James #4 Blues Lps.
Chart singles
Release date Title US record label Chart Positions
US Charts AC UK Singles Chart Black Singles Chart
Dion and the Belmonts
1958 “I Wonder Why” Laurie 22
1958 “No One Knows” Laurie 19 12
“Don’t Pity Me” Laurie 40
1959 “A Teenager in Love” Laurie 5 28
“A Lover’s Prayer” Laurie 73
“Every Little Thing I Do” Laurie 48
“Where or When” Laurie 3 19
1960 “Little Miss Blue” Laurie 96
“When You Wish Upon a Star” Laurie 30
“In The Still of the Night” Laurie 38
Dion
“Lonely Teenager” Laurie 12 47
1961 “Havin’ Fun” Laurie 42
“Kissin’ Game” Laurie 82
“Somebody Nobody Wants” Laurie 103
“Runaround Sue” Laurie 1 11 4
“The Wanderer” Laurie 2 10
(also 16, 1976)
“The Majestic” Laurie 36
1962 “Lovers Who Wander” Laurie 3 16
“Little Diane” Laurie 8
“(I Was) Born to Cry” Laurie 42
“Love Came to Me” Laurie 10 24
“Ruby Baby” Columbia 2
1963 “Sandy” Laurie 21
“This Little Girl” Columbia 21
“Come Go With Me” Laurie 48
“Be Careful of Stones That You Throw” Columbia 31
“Lonely World” Laurie 101
“Donna the Prima Donna” Columbia 6 17
“Drip Drop” Columbia 6
1964 “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” Columbia 113
“Shout” Laurie 108
“Johnny B. Goode” Columbia 71
1968 “Abraham, Martin and John” Laurie 4
“Purple Haze” Laurie 63
1969 “From Both Sides Now” Laurie 91
1970 “Your Own Back Yard” Warner Bros. 75
1971 “Sanctuary” Warner Bros. 103
1989 “And The Night Stood Still” Arista 75 16
1990 “Sea Cruise” (From “Ford Fairlane”) 28
1961 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Surrender,” Elvis Presley. The song is based on the Italian song “Torna a Sorrento (Come Back to Sorrento),” which was written in 1911 by Ernesto and B.G. de Curtis.
1919 – Born on this day, Max Yasgur, owner of the Woodstock farm where the 1969 festival was held. Yasgur died of a heart attack on 8th February 1973 aged 53.
1919 – Born on this day, Liberace, (Wladziu Valentinon Liberace), US pianist, singer, TV presenter, (1955 UK No.20 single ‘Unchained Melody’). He died on 4th February 1997.
1919 – Pete Seeger is born on This Day in Rock! A US folk singer composing songs like ‘Turn Turn Turn’(The Byrds), ‘If I Had A Hammer(Peter Paul and Mary) amoung others.
Recent Comments