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Thread: Over and Over

  1. #1

    Over and Over

    Prompted by a post on another thread about Bobby Day's Over and Over released on Class Records (owned by Leon Rene) in 1958 I was musing about the session musicians. Well they included Plas Johnson (tenor sax), Rene Hall (guitar) and Earl Palmer (drums), all from New Orleans.

    Who they? Well Earl Palmer was the first great rock 'n' roll drummer and played on a thousand hit records and helped the career of the (self proclaimed) most famous rock drummer of all time: Hal Blaine, who played on 35,000 records. It was Blaine who created the beat behind all the great Phil Spector hits, the Beachboys etc. Biographies were written about both: Backbeat and Hal Blaine & The Wrecking Crew - which I have.

    Whilst Jim Horn (the go-to sax player in the rock era) was the first choice for artists such as Duane Eddy I have rejected out-takes of tunes where Plas Johnson takes the solo, although the issued version of the tune was Jim Horn. In my view the Jim Horn take is the better- more down and dirty than sweet. And Rene Hall? Well he was the guitarist of choice behind Sam Cooke and even had a highly regarded record in his own right with Twitchy .

    Over and Over, although only issued as a "B" side, as noted in the other post was a USA #1 by the Dave Clark 5 and it is currently being used in a TV advert - over 60 years after it was written.

    Of course Bobby Day deserves the credit for composing and recording Over and Over but I would contend that the fact of his having three outstanding session musicians behind him made the track great and that is why it is still being played and making a lot of money even after the composer has been dead for thirty years.

    Because pop or rock music is normally seen as ephemeral there is little literature of worth of the 1950/60s and what was published was only in the USA but there are a few research writers of worth - Colin Escott is one.

    The most useful, although of course not comprehensive, book on the era is John Broven's 600 page Record Makers and Breakers published in 2009 by the University of Illinois Press in Chicago.

    The most useful general guide is Colin Larkin's Encyclopedia of Popular Music in 10 volumes (ie 9000 pages) 4th Edition 2009 published by Oxford University Press.

    So two University publishers - and it's only rock 'n' roll.
    Last edited by Graham Breeze; 03-07-2020 at 10:32 PM.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  2. #2
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    Earl Palmer is a fabulous name. Ever thought of changing your name from Graham to something a bit more out there? I fancy Art Breeze. I’m wondering about changing the e to an a in Derby
    Poacher turned game-keeper

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    Quote Originally Posted by Derby Tup View Post
    Earl Palmer is a fabulous name. Ever thought of changing your name from Graham to something a bit more out there? I fancy Art Breeze. I’m wondering about changing the e to an a in Derby
    I think Graham has changed his name enough over the years on here
    Richard Taylor
    "William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
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  4. #4
    [QUOTE=Derby Tup;663271]Earl Palmer is a fabulous name. Ever thought of changing your name from Graham to something a bit more out there? /QUOTE]

    To be perfectly honest DT, I cannot say that the idea of having an Alias has ever appealed to me.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  5. #5
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    I misunderstood what this thread was going to be about when I saw the title. I thought it was going to be about Van Morrison and his albums (you know, releasing the same one over and over), or perhaps Status Quo and their singles (you know, releasing the same one over and over) or maybe even me and my jokes (you know, releasing - well, I guess you'll have got the idea by now).

    Actually, I quite like Status Quo's song. It certainly stood them in good stead. I suppose, after their first release, they thought, why change - oh, fill in the rest yourself.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Flem View Post
    I misunderstood what this thread was going to be about when I saw the title. I thought it was going to be about Van Morrison and his albums (you know, releasing the same one over and over), or perhaps Status Quo and their singles (you know, releasing the same one over and over) or maybe even me and my jokes (you know, releasing - well, I guess you'll have got the idea by now).

    Actually, I quite like Status Quo's song. It certainly stood them in good stead. I suppose, after their first release, they thought, why change - oh, fill in the rest yourself.
    I would not wish this to go to your head... but that made me laugh out loud.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham Breeze View Post
    I would not wish this to go to your head... but that made me laugh out loud.
    Oh, no. My head's just exploded!

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Flem View Post
    Oh, no. My head's just exploded!
    Oh you may calmly chill, few retain my admiration for long: Johannes Vermeer, Ingmar Bergman, Randy Newman, Jane Austen...before their feet of clay are exposed: George Ivan (obviously), Marco Pantani, Neil Young, Jean Luc-Godard,...

    Even Robert Z himself has tried my patience - although he has redeemed himself recently with Rough and Ready Ways - and I do think the way to inner tranquility is to have a forgiving heart.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  9. #9
    What Price A Musical Legacy?

    The Train Kept A-Rollin (written by Tiny Bradshaw in 1951) has never been a hit record anywhere or at any time but it is well known. After all it was recorded by Aerosmith and the Yardbirds twice where, in its plagiarised form as Stroll On, it included both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. It’s been recorded many times, it’s a rockabilly classic and in my view the most memorable recording was made by Johnny Burnette and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Trio in 1957 on Coral Records. It is a breathtaking, vivacious recording but neither it nor anything else the trio cut sold so the group broke up, although Johnny and his brother Dorsey did have success as song writers for Rick Nelson (Imperial) composing huge hits such as It’s Late. Nelson was the most popular singer in the USA whilst Presley was in the army and whatever you think of his singing capability, he knew how to pick good songs, always had quality bands and always allowed the brilliance of James Burton to shine in taut, classic guitar solos. The revered Burton eventually went on to form Presley’s house band.

    Dorsey went on to have a trio of minor US hit records, Tall Oak Tree (Era) being the best known.

    And Johnny? Well he went on to Liberty Records which was very good under the guidance of Snuff Garrett in developing white, teenage girl-oriented stars (such as Bobby Vee) and there Burnette had four Billboard Top 20 entries such as Dreamin' and Your Sixteen. The latter two even reaching #5 and #3 in the UK and being followed by three more hits. But after 18 months it was all over - there was a new flavour of the month. Burnette struggled and scrabbled but his moment had gone and he drowned falling off his boat in 1964 aged 30.

    And so what?

    Well Dreamin’ etc were slick and glossy and successful but so were the songs recorded by the innumerable “Bobbys” of that era and nobody will bother to seek Burnette’s albums out now - but yet his rockabilly version of The Train Kept A-Rollin' is still a magic performance. It captures all that was revolutionary and joyful and iconoclastic about the music of that time – raw rock ‘n’ roll. It is his 2 min 19 second masterpiece.

    Burnette’s mind as he waited to drown might not have been totally focused on his musical legacy but I would hope that in his final moments he would have been prouder of the raw vivacious tracks he cut with his own trio, some his own songs; rather than the emollient, slick sweeping strings-overlaid tracks he cut with moon and June lyrics, written by professional song writers for pre-pubescent girls, in the slick Liberty studios in Los Angeles.

    Maybe Liberty money paid for his boat but his music for Coral created his legacy.
    Last edited by Graham Breeze; 06-07-2020 at 10:45 PM.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham Breeze View Post
    nobody will bother to seek Burnette’s albums out now
    Well, that's where you're wrong, Mr Breeze. I've just had another session on YouTube, precisely to seek out Burnette’s albums. Shows what you know. What I found (while Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee, Drinkin' Wine) was utter bilge, but that's not the point. (I don't want things to go to your head.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2nCvdHAN7Y

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BsC4fq8c9o

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