in my email box today, i want to thank Chris Kennedy for contacting me and sharing this fantastic slice of americana and rock and roll history! i have taken the liberty and have posted more information about this amazing book as well as what reviewers are saying. now, to get my hands on a copy!
My name is Chris Kennedy, I'm a writer and musician from New York. I like your site so I thought I'd take the shot and reach out to you.
In 2006, I discovered the lost, never before published color photo collection of popular 1950s Cleveland radio deejay Tommy Edwards. The collection consists of over 1,700 Ektachrome slides of practically everyone who passed through his radio station from 1955-60. Elvis, Chuck Berry, country music superstars, Hollywood celebrities and hopeful unknowns.
I believe the photographs capture something magical. The Kent State University Press has published my book on the collection.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland are curating a Tommy Edwards photo exhibit, January 12, 2012 through May 6, 2012.
Best,
Chris Kennedy
so, let's take some time and take a closer look at the book. there was a day when DJ's mattered, however with the musical landscape being what is is today, this seems to be a lost medium at times.
'1950s Radio in Color' recalls Cleveland deejay Tommy Edward's rockin' role through photos
"Viewing these photographs delivers the same exquisite, intimate, irresistible thrill as looking through family albums and yearbooks.-- Anthony DeCurtis, Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone
"Tommy Edwards helped establish many a successful recording artist - including me!" - Pat Boone
"As producer and historian for Sony Music I sometimes run into kindred spirits--Chris Kennedy is such a person, and 1950s Radio in Color is a splendid example of Chris's dedication to his craft." - Ernst Jørgensen
"Frankly astonishing...with the quite extraordinary book, 1950s Radio in Color, Christopher Kennedy presents the cream of this archive, once believed lost." Mojo - September 2011
"Anyone who loves early rock 'n' roll - and early rock 'n' roll radio - will be mesmerized by the new book "1950s Radio in Color: The Lost Photographs of Deejay Tommy Edwards" by Chris Kennedy." - NY Daily News
AMAZON talks more about the book
A remarkable collection of photographs by one of rock's early champions
Between 1955 and 1960, popular Cleveland deejay Tommy Edwards photographed the parade of performers who passed through the WERE-AM radio studio for on-air interviews, shooting more than 1,700 Ektachrome slides. Following his death in 1981, most of the collection vanished and was presumed lost. The few images that remained were often reprinted and rarely credited to Edwards, labeled photographer unknown. Until now.
Discovered by musician Chris Kennedy in 2006, Tommy Edwards's candid photographs capture the birth of rock 'n' roll at its flashpoint: Elvis Presley while he was still dangerous; a raw and incomplete Chuck Berry before his star ascended; and some beady-eyed, high-voiced kid named Roy Orbison. It wasn't just the architects of rock music whom Edwards had in his viewfinder. There were also pop and country music s biggest stars, mysterious, unknown hopefuls, and vulnerable, deglamourized Hollywood celebrities. Edwards's passion for photography immortalized hundreds of pioneers of rock 'n' roll and pop culture in the radio studio, a setting that was often unseen. His photos offer a rare look behind a closed door.
In 2009, Kennedy located the only surviving copy of the T.E. Newsletter collection, Tommy Edwards's self-published weekly two-page recap of Cleveland radio and record news for music business insiders, spanning from 1953 through 1960. The wealth of information and dates contained in the newsletters are the photo collection's indispensable companion piece, and Edwards's anecdotal quips are interspersed throughout the text of the book.
1950s Radio in Color gives Tommy Edwards his due recognition as the deejay responsible for perhaps the most important photographic and written documentation of twentieth-century music ever produced. Featuring over 200 color photographs, this book will transport readers back in time, allowing them to step into Edwards's shoes for a moment and to feel the wonder and excitement he must have felt every day while witnessing a cultural revolution.
Buy The Book Now At Amazon
=============
Third Man Records Reissuing Flat Duo Jets Seminal Rockabilly LP
The White Stripes covered album Flat Duo Jets tracks “You Belong to Me” and “Apple Blossom Time” on several occasions (White also talked the band up in the documentary It Might Get Loud). TMR wrote that the songs on the record are “genuinely important in the pantheon of American music.
Flat Duo Jets, the brainchild of Dexter Romweber, released a slew of albums and singles from their formation in 1983 until their 1999 break-up. Romweber has since gone on to a solo career, touring with the likes of Cat Power and Neko Case.
Tracklist
1. Flat Duo Jets Anthem
2. The Dainty Song
3. Go Go Harlem Baby
4. You Belong To Me
5. Frog Went A Courtin’
6. No Greater Love
7. I Don’t Know
8. Harlem Nocturne
9. Wild Trip
10. Rock House
11. Stalkin’
12. Don’t Blame Me
13. Love Has Its Joke Sometimes
14. TV Mama
15. Apple Blossom Time
16. Ask Me How I Live
Pre-sales
=============
cool album cover art!
Dragonland - New Album Cover Unveiled
DRAGONLAND's fifth album was recorded at several different studios, with Jacob Hansen adding his magic touch to the mix at Hansen studios in Ribe, Denmark. Twelve songs were recorded during the sessions, and the music itself is based on a deep and emotional story, picking up where the band's second album, "Holy War", left off nine years ago.
Tracklist:
1. Ilmarion
2. Shadow Of The Mithril Mountains
3. The Tempest
4. A Thousand Towers White
5. Fire And Brimstone
6. The Black Mare
7. Lady Of Goldenwood
8. Dûrnir's Forge
9. The Trials Of Mount Farnor
10. Throne Of Bones
11. Under The Grey Banner
12. Ivory Shores
=============
fantastic article at huffingtonpost.com i wholeheartedly agree with author Mona Elyafi's taste!
Music Sounds Better on Vinyl
Read the article HERE
=============
this has been making the rounds on all the music sites:
Trailer for Lou Reed & Metallica's Lulu
=============
the great ozzzzy
OZZY OSBOURNE Interviewed On NBC's 'Today' Show
=============
saw this at gibson.com and thought i'd share it. she's amazing, her name is Juliette Valduriez and she is from Paris, France. a masterful job at Ozzy Osbourne’s “Bark at the Moon!” man, she's got some skills, somebody sign her!
=============
so much happened on this day in music, some names from the past along with some memorable music (for me anyway) enjoy the clips and the music!
In 1958, Billboard magazine runs a story about the vocal group, The Teddy Bears, saying "18 year old Phil Spector, who wrote and arranged their hit 'To Know Him is to Love Him', is studying to be a court reporter."
In 1963, in Britain, the Beatles appeared on the ITV's "Sunday Night at the Palladium." It was their first appearance on a major TV show. Many fans battled with police to get into the theater as 15 million British viewers watched the show on TV.
45 rpm SinglesFacts
"My Generation" is a song that expresses the anger and frustration of teenagers of the day. Roger Daltrey would later say that he stuttered the lyrics to try to fit them to the music. The BBC initially refused to play the song because it did not want to offend people who stammer, but later reversed its decision. The tune would rise to #2 in the UK, but stalled at #74 in the US.
"My Generation" also appeared on The Who's 1965 debut album, My Generation (The Who Sings My Generation in the United States), and in greatly extended form on their live album Live at Leeds (1970). The Who re-recorded the song for the Ready Steady Who! EP in 1966, but this version was only released in 1995 on the remastered version of the A Quick One album. The main difference between this version and the original is that instead of the hail of feedback which ends the original, the band play a chaotic rendition of Edward Elgar's "Land of Hope and Glory". In the album's liner notes the song is credited to both Townshend and Elgar. A music video featuring a montage of live performance clips has been played on music stations.
The song was named the 11th greatest song by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 13th on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll. It's also part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value.
"My Generation" has been covered by numerous artists. Some of the most recognized include Oasis, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Count Five, Hilary Duff, Green Day, Phish, Floater, The Wahas, The Zimmers, Gorky Park, Di-Rect, Generation X, Acrylic Steel and The Sweet.
The performance of "My Generation" on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was another defining moment in the television comedy series. As they often did during that period, The Who destroyed their instruments at the conclusion of their performance. However, a stage hand, at the request of Keith Moon, had overloaded Moon's kick drum with explosives. When they were detonated, the explosion was so intense that Moon was injured by cymbal shrapnel and bandmate Pete Townshend's hearing was permanently damaged.
"Drive My Car" was recorded on October 13, 1965 in the Beatles' first recording session to extend past midnight.
McCartney, working closely with George Harrison, laid down the basic rhythm track, doubling similar riffing lines on bass and low guitar, as per Harrison's suggestion. Harrison had been listening to Otis Redding's "Respect" at the time and, as a result of its influence, "Drive My Car" has more bottom than any previous Beatles recording, mimicking the bass-heavy sound generated in Redding's Memphis studio.
The song's male narrator is told by a woman that she is going to be a famous movie star, and she offers him the opportunity to be her chauffeur, adding "and maybe I'll love you." When he objects that his "prospects are good", she retorts that "working for peanuts is all very fine/but I can show you a better time." When he agrees to her proposal, she admits that she does not have a car, "but [she's] found a driver and that's a start."
According to McCartney, "'Drive my car' was an old blues euphemism for sex".[5] McCartney also described the song (along with "Norwegian Wood", also from Rubber Soul) as a "comedy number" in Melody Maker two days after the song's recording.
The song also appeared in North America on the 'Yesterday and Today' collection. The upbeat, lighthearted "Drive My Car" was used as the opening track for both albums.
In 1970, Janis Joplin's ashes were scattered off the coast of California.
In 1974, TV host Ed Sullivan died. Introduced The Beatles and other U.K. acts to America via his Ed Sullivan television show, from New York City, which ran from June 20, 1948 to June 6, 1971, on CBS every Sunday night at 8 p.m. The Beatles’ appearance on February 9, 1964 is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers.In 1977, 32 year old Shirley Brickley of The Orlons was shot and killed by an intruder in her Philadelphia home. Her group placed five songs in the Billboard Top 20 in 1962 and '63, including "The Wah Watusi" (#2), "Don't Hang Up" (#4) and "South Street" (#3).
KISS released the album "Creatures of the Night" in 1982.In 1984, Stevie Wonder started a three week run at the top of the Billboard singles chart with "I Just Called To Say I Love You", his seventh US #1. The song, produced by Lionel Ritchie, also reached #1 in the UK and 11 other countries.
In 1990, George Michael went to #1 on the US singles chart with “Praying For Time,” his sixth U.S. solo #1.
In 1992, the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case of two sets of parents suing Ozzy Osbourne for his music's influence in the suicide of their sons.
In 1998, Craig Atkinson, drummer for Count Five on their 1966, US Top Ten hit "Psychotic Reaction", died from an unknown illness at the age of 50.
In 2001, Peter Doyle, guitarist and vocalist for the New Seekers, died of cancer at the age of 52. The group scored two US Top 20 hits, "Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma" in 1970 and "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" in 1971, as well as placing twelve songs in the UK Top 40.
In 2002, the UK rock band Muse took legal action against Celine Dion after she announced her forthcoming Las Vegas show would be called Muse. Singer Matt Bellamy from the band said, “We don’t want anyone to think we’re Celine Dion’s backing band.” i don't blame them....
In 2007, Tom Dawes, bassist for the Cyrkle on their two 1966 Billboard Top 20 hits, "Red Rubber Ball" and "Turn Down Day", died following complications from heart surgery. He was 64.
In 2008, in a video message on his website, Ringo Starr announced that he no longer has time to sign autographs and asked fans not to send him any mail at all. "No more fan mail and no objects to be signed. Nothing." After finishing a tour of the US and Canada, he was dividing his time between Los Angeles, the South of France and his UK home in Surrey. i also asked the same thing, yet no one ever asks for my autograph
In 2009, Al Martino, a Pop crooner who placed eleven songs on the Billboard Top 40, including "I Love You Because", "Spanish Eyes" and "I Love You More And More Every Day", died at the age of 82. He is often remembered for playing the Frank Sinatra-type role of Johnny Fontane in The Godfather.
In 2010, General Norman Johnson, the lead singer of the Soul band Chairmen Of The Board, died of lung cancer at the age of 67. The Detroit, Michigan quartet reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Pop chart four times in 1970, including the #3 hit "Give Me Just A Little More Time".
birthdays today include (among others): Craig MacGregor (Foghat) (62), Joey Belladonna (Anthrax) (51), Robert Lamm (Chicago) (67), Sammy Hagar (64) and in peerless Paul Simon (70)
No comments:
Post a Comment