Vinyl Record Lovers Newsletter
Issue 022, August, 2013

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Vinyl Record Lovers

Issue #022, August 31, 2013

Welcome to my Vinyl Record Lovers Newsletter and thank you for subscribing. I do appreciate the time you take to read my newsletter.

In this Issue:

---Follow up to my "What's Your Name" story.

---Drive in Movies update

---Remembering Elvis - His Top Ten Hits!

---Cowboy songs and the b-westerns.

---"Sayings of the 50s" Part 2 (See July issue for part 1)

---What's next for all-about-vinylrecords?

Two Cool lady's and the Trashcan.

Finished my "What's Your Name" page so I do hope you had time to read my story and get a laugh or two how I fumbled through two summers after High School chasing after two girls I didn't even know.

What a wonderful old song by Don & Juan from 1962.

An how about that cool Seeburg Jukebox nicknamed "Trashcan" because of its shape. You can read the story here.

Drive-in Movie updates.

I'll continue to give updates as they are received from various Drive-ins but an interesting note that many may already be aware of and I am happy to report is a new effort spearheaded by Honda to help keep the fading family Drive-in business alive.

Project Drive-In is a multimedia campaign backed by the automaker that’s raising money to help theaters finance the new equipment and encouraging awareness of their plight.

Honda will be donating five projectors itself, and has set up a website where moviegoers can vote for which theaters will get them and pledge additional money that will go towards helping out the others.

Voting ends on Sept. 9th, but the fundraising campaign will continue indefinitely. You can read about it and watch this video for more info.

Elvis' Top Ten hits all time.

In memory of Elvis' death, August 16, 1977 here is a list of his top ten hits during his amazing career. Even more amazing, every one of the following ten hits were the most popular songs in the country for at least a solid month.

1. "Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel" - 1956

Amazing that both sides of this 45 went to #1 on pop, country, and R&B, and stayed there for three solid months.


2. "All Shook Up" - 1957

The publishing company owner for songwriter Otis Blacwell approached him one day shaking a bottle of Pepsi and asked him to write a song called "All Shook Up." This one "only" stayed at the top for two months.


3. "Heartbreak Hotel" - 1956

Mae Axton, high school teacher and mother of country singer/singwriter Hoyt, hand-delivered this one to Elvis in his dressing room. Critics found fault with, among other things, too much echo, but with Floyd Cramer playing the piano solo this perfect sultry, weepy song had America's teenage girls screaming for more Elvis.


4. "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" - 1957

Originally planned to be the b-side of the song "Loving You," this song went on to become Elvis' 4th top song ever and started a wave of Elvis Teddy Bear merchandise that continues nearly 60 years later.


5. "Jailhouse Rock" - 1957

This one came hot on the heels of "Teddy Bear" and served as the centerpiece song for yet another Evlis movie...and an iconic prison-themed dance number that still gets referenced in popular culture today.


6. "Are You Lonesome To-Night?" - 1960

This song, originally cut in 1927, was a favorite of Marie, Colonel Tom Parker's wife, so he asked the King to record it as a personal favor. Presley loved romantic ballads and was happy to oblige, having every light in the studio turned off to create the proper mood and modeling his theatrical reading after the 1950 hit arrangement of bandleader Blue Barron.


7. "It's Now or Never" - 1960

Elvis heard the song "There's No Tomorrow," a 1949 hit for Tony Martin, while on leave in Germany. The song utilized the melody of the classic Italian aria "O Sole Mio" and a music publisher was asked to come up with new lyrics for Elvis. That set the framework for Elvis' biggest-ever worldwide hit.


8. "Love Me Tender" - 1956

Elvis' first movie featured Presley in a minor role. At least that's what was supposed to happen until the singer's popularity suddenly exploded into the stratosphere. It was then rewritten to give the King a bigger part, renamed after the ballad he performs in the movie, and then had its ending reshot when his character's death traumatized legions of young girls.


9. "Don't" - 1958

The only song Elvis ever specifically requested to be written for him. He asked the song writing team of Lieber-Stoller to write him "a real pretty song" and that they did. But it was probably a little too pretty for the country and R&B charts, neither of which allowed it to reach the top.


10. "Stuck on You" - 1960

"Stuck on You" had a giant ace in the hole to be #1 as it was the first single issued upon Presley's release from the Army. And with all the hype that preceded his return this baby went straight to the top.


Who were your Cowboy heros?

Does anyone recall those great old cowboy songs and all those original western heros? A couple of my buddies, Old JW and Butch, sent me a reminder of how sad it was that places like the Roy Rogers museum was no longer open for little buckaroo's to visit and see what it was like to watch a real Western hero in action.

Here is what I remember when I think about those fun trips with my buddies to those Saturday afternoon b-westerns.

Our silver screen cowboys always had the fastest horse, the fanciest shirt, the hardest left hook, a hat that wouldn't fall off even in the darndest fight, and a shoot-em up six gun that never needed reloading.

In our eyes he was the best of the hard-riding, straight shooting, headin'-em-off-at-the-pass, white hatted, white horsed good guy hero of the favorite Saturday afternoon double feature known as the b-western.

I never seem to have enough hours in a day and never seem to get around to writing about and playing some of my favorite old cowboy songs from the b-Westerns. You know the ones I'm talking about..."Cool Water," "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "Riders in the Sky," "Happy Trails"...just some real cowboy songs, not C&W but real cowboy campfire songs.

I'd love to bring back your happy childhood days with some of my cool vinyl record campfire oldies. When cowboys like Buck Jones, Johnny Mack Brown, Ken Maynard, Tom Mix and Bob Steele would ride into your favorite Saturday matinee movie theater and you and your buddies could sit around your make believe campfire with your favorite cowboy hero's.

We all remember those good old days when you could see two westerns (sometimes three) get a box of popcorn, a Coca-cola and maybe squeeze in a box of milk-duds or Good-and-plenty, all for around fifty cents. Life was good for me and my buddies back in Lindenwald, a suburb of Hamilton, Ohio.

Got any thoughts about your favorite Cowboy songs, love to here them.

What your parents were saying in the 50s, Part 2.

This is the second part of an article continued from my July newsletter. At the bottom of the page is a link for back issues if you want to review part 1 of "Sayings we heard in the 50s."

Those of you who actually grew up in the fifties will appreciate "Sayings in the 50s" and those who did not will certainly say "Ain't no way anyone could ever have had it so good."

These statements were quite common during the 1950s. Notice how many of those sayings are so much different than the way we are thinking today.

continued from July: (1-12)

13. Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be making more than the president.

14. Do you suppose television will ever reach our part of the country?

15. It’s too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.

16. It won’t be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.

17. I’ll tell you one thing. If my kid ever talks back to me, he won’t be able to sit down for a week.

18. I’m just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.

19. Why in the world would you want to send your daughter to college? Isn’t she going to get married? It would be different if she could be a doctor or a lawyer.

20. The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.

21. No one can afford to be sick anymore, $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood.

22. If a few idiots want to risk their necks flying across the country that’s fine, but nothing will ever replace trains.

23. I don’t know about you but if they raise the price of coffee to 15 cents, I’ll just have to drink mine at home.

24. If they think I’ll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it. I’ll have my wife learn to cut hair.

25. We won’t be going out much anymore. Our baby sitter informed us she wants 50 cents an hour. Kids think money grows on trees.

What's next for all-about-vinylrecords.com?

The song "Louie, Louie" has an interesting history. Lots of controversial rock and roll songs have become popular even though they were banned from airplay, but "Louie Louie" stands alone among them, the King of all controversial records.

The cover version that was never supposed to happen prevailed and managed to create a spontaneious urban legend. Read the "Louie Louie" story in the September Newsletter...

Don't miss out on My favorite vinyl record Blog:

If you're into Vinyl Records and want good quality content, be sure to visit Collecting Vinyl Records.com. My friend Robert Benson puts a lot into his blog. You will not be disappointed.

Do you have some favorites?

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Have a great month.

All my best,