Vinyl Record Lovers Newsletter
Issue 019, May 25, 2013

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Vinyl Record Lovers

Issue #019, May 25, 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:

---Oldies groups - I remember Doo-Wop singer Virgil Johnson.

---Who's got the most No. 1 Country duets over the years?

---Interesting May dates in history

---Betcha didn't know this.

---Vinyl record memories - Old friends.

---For the U.S. veterans on Memorial Day and every day, thank you.

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

Sadly, another Doo-wop lead singer has left us.

The number of remaining original groups performing is sadly coming to an end. My friend Virgil Johnson, lead singer for the Doo-Wop group The Velvets died on February 24, 2013 in a Hospital near Lubbock, Texas. He was 77.

Virgil Johnson was lead singer on the original song "Tonight (Could be the Night) from 1961 and you can read my story about Virgil Johnson and The Velvets here.

Who's got the most No. 1 Country duets over the years?

When George Jones died last month at age 81 I thought about the hits that he and Tammy Wynette had together and wondered how many and who had the most Country duets over the years. I researched it and here is what I came up with.

In October 1973, "We're Gonna Hold On" became the first No. 1 hit for George Jones and Tammy Wynette.

That marked only the third time ever that a husband-wife duo topped the country survey.

First came "Don't Let Me Cross Over," by Carl and Pearl Butler (1962), then "Tennessee Bird Walk," by Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan (1970).

Married or not, here is my list of the top No. 1 duet country hits. And it's easy to see just who was the most successful of the Duets. My list needed at least three #1 hits to qualify.

1971: "After the Fire Is Gone" Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1971 "Lead Me On " Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1973: "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1973 "We're Gonna Hold On" George Jones & Tammy Wynette
1974: "As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone" Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1975: "Feelins" Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1976 "Golden Ring" George Jones & Tammy Wynette
1977: "Near You" George Jones & Tammy Wynette
1978 "Every Time Two Fools Collide" Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1979: "All I Every Need Is You" Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1981 "What Are We Doin' in Love" Dottie West & Kenny Rogers

As you can see it's Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn with 5 #1 hits.

From this May date in history - A trip down memory lane.

May 13th

In 1957, in Hollywood, Elvis Presley began filming his third movie, "Jailhouse Rock." This movie, along with "Loving You" and "King Creole" remain my favorite Elvis movies ever.

Ritchie Valens, born May 13, 1941 would be 72 this month. He died in the plane crash that killed both Buddy Holly and "The Big Bopper" in 1959.

May 16th

On May 16, 1966, the Beach Boys released the album 'Pet Sounds' in the US. The album is now regarded as the masterpiece of composer-producer Brian Wilson, and is often hailed as one of the best and most influential albums in popular music.

Paul McCartney picked it as one of his favorite albums of all time. It was ranked number two in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

May 24th

In 1959, Fabian sang "Tiger" and "Turn Me Loose" on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show."

In 1969, the Beatles with Billy Preston started a five week run at #1 on the US singles chart with "Get Back," the group's 17th US #1. It was the Beatles' only single that credited another artist at their request.

Preston played the organ part on that cool song and would later have two #1 songs on his own, "Nothing from Nothing" and "Will it go Round in Circles."

Betcha didn't know this.

Although they are mostly remembered for accompanying Elvis Presley on over 360 songs, The Jordanaires also sang back-up on 30,000 other recordings. I didn't even know that!

In 1962, Gene Pitney recorded "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" for the movie of the same name, starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Although the song reached #4 on the Billboard singles chart, it was never included in the film.

I mention this movie because John Wayne has always been my favorite Western actor and this movie ranks as one of his all time best.

The movie was shot in black and white in 1962, it was well produced, and the story line was excellent with outstanding actors.

Wanna Buy Graceland? If you have $200 million just laying around, and you're an Elvis fan, congratulations! You could potentially buy The King's storied Memphis mansion, Graceland, for that price. The price includes thousands of pictures and the rights to over 1,000 Presley songs.

Elvis Presley Enterprises, which owns 15 percent of the Elvis name, has not publicly commented on any possible sale.

Vinyl Record Memories - Old friends.

A few weeks back I was talking to my long time friend Gary from Hamilton, Ohio and he thought maybe some of our classmates might be interested in looking at my website about the oldies and growing up in the fifties.

He has a lot to do with keeping up with our classmates and keeps an email list, so I was excited that maybe some of them might be interested in visiting my site and maybe contact me. Sure enough I got some very nice emails from several classmates and hope to hear from more.

I never get tired of hearing from old friends from the past. We all grew up in a special time and on my site I try to bring back those memories in a simple way. I consider all my classmates very special people.

Memorial Day - I remember my friend Rick Stephenson.

It was a hot summer Saturday afternoon in 1958 when my friend Rick showed up at my house riding his red Cushman Eagle motor scooter. Hop on dude, lets ride! Off we went without a care in the world headed off to check out the girls at the local pool.

Rick and I grew up within a few blocks of each other among the many other friends we had that lived just a few blocks away in the same neighborhood.

We ran track and played football together in Junior High School. Rick was an excellent athlete and a good friend.

After high school we didn't see much of each other and soon afterwards I joined the Air Force and never saw Rick again.

My friend gave his all.

In 1970 I got a letter from my mother informing me that my friend Rick Stephenson had been killed while on duty serving in the Navy. I was serving my second tour at Clark AB in the Philippines at the time.

Dept of Navy records listed reason for death as Aircraft loss/Crashed at sea. I never knew that Rick had become a Navy Pilot and was serving in Vietnam at the time of his death.

Rick Stephenson was 25 years old.

This weekend, of course, another Memorial Day is upon us. I hope that you will join me in remembering to honor not only veterans who were close to you but also all of our veterans who gave their all. My friend Rick gave his all.

While the mass media often makes this weekend out to be about barbecues and department store sales, it is up to each one of us to remind the many who may have forgotten the true meaning of this day.

For the U.S. veterans on Memorial Day and every day, thank you.

I will have a special Memorial Day video for the next three days to honor our military veterans who have given their all.

What's next for all-about-vinylrecords?

I have finished the draft for two more pages. One page is written around my attempt to get to know two girls back in 1963, but at the time I did not know their names. Maybe you can guess the title of the song that I will be using to write this page.

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?

If you have any favorite vinyl record topics you'd like to see on this site, Please Click here and enter your information in the contact form.

I'll respond withing 24 hours.

Have a great month.

Regards,