Vinyl Record Lovers Newsletter
(VIP Club)

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The golden age of vinyl records and all things retro are the highlights of my Newsletter. Writing stories about our vinyl record memories with added content from my collection is another way of sharing memories and keeping the oldies alive.

I do hope that you enjoy these little stories I write. They are short, they will not win any prizes for literature, but it’s all about the music and our vinyl record memories.

We wish you lots of fun on this journey to the time of Drive-In Movies, Pizza Parlors, Malt Shops, and those memorable Friday & Saturday night school dances. 

Issue #129 - February, 2024

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In This Issue:

Special February Dates to Remember.

• Country Doo Wop Spotlight Song Of The Month.
  

• Remembering Toby Keith...
  

• Running From Shadows - The Del Shannon Story.
  

• The Day The Music Died - 65 Years Later.
  

• A Jeff Beck Classic Returns - Sleepwalk
  

• The Day The Music Died - Part 2

• Betcha Didn't Know!
  

• Kenny Rogers Vinyl LP Album Series.

• What's Next?

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Take a trip down memory lane with with the original classic oldies show - Monday thru Saturday from 1pm to 3pm, all times Pacific, on KNCP Newberry Mix 107.3 FM.  Ned Ward turns music into memories playing yesterday's country favorites and the classic hits of the 50's and 60's Doo Wop style.

Country Doo Wop Spotlight Song of The Month.
Remembering Toby Keith...

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One of our favorite Toby Keith songs, "Should've Been A Cowboy," was Keith's first single, released in February 1993 when he was 31. In the song Keith draws from the Old West cowboys of the previous century, the ones sleeping under the stars with their six-shooters nearby.

The first verse is a reference to the TV series Gunsmoke, which ran from 1955–1975. Marshal Dillon and Miss Kitty are characters in the show who have a complicated relationship. There was clearly an attraction, but rarely the opportunity.

As Keith's catalog of hits grew, he had to cycle some out of his music list to make room for the new ones. "Should've Been A Cowboy," though, he performed at most of his shows throughout his career. Thanks to our friend and DJ, Ned Ward, and his producer, Mr. Barney, for this very special, Toby Keith, Country Doo-Wop Spotlight song of the month.

Toby Keith never shied away from his American pride, parading his patriotism throughout his career, and was known for taking his tours to remote military bases. Under his belt, he had a whopping 18 USO tours, starting in 2002, and is said to have performed for more than 250,000 service members, many of whom looked at Keith as an uplifting force they could connect to.

On June 12, 2022, Keith announced that he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2021 and was under treatment. He died on February 5, 2024. God bless Toby Keith, a true American patriot.

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Running From Shadows - Del Shannon Story

It has been 34 years since Del Shannon played his last show on February 3rd, 1990, in Fargo, North Dakota.

It was a memorial concert for three of Shannon’s contemporaries—Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson—who had died in a plane crash on that day, 31 years prior.

Later that week Shannon’s second wife found him in a rocking chair in their California home. He died as a result of a self inflicted gunshot wound on February 8th, 1990. Del Shannon was 55.

He’d suffered from alcoholism and depression most of his life, although he’d reportedly been on the mend just before his death; not that his prescription to Prozac did anything to keep his finger off the trigger. Read the story line and details here.

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The Day The Music Died - Feb 3, 1959
Remembering Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly & Big Bopper

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The Surf Ballroom is a loss-of-innocence shrine for fans of rock 'n' roll, and is where the last concert was held featuring Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper,” J. P. Richardson .

La Bamba is a 1987 movie about the life of Latino star, Ritchie Valens. This is the closing scene when his death is announced on the radio on February 3, 1959.

It is well known from Ritchie Valens biography that he wrote his version of La Bamba in 1958. Although the song only reached #22 on the Billboard charts in 1959, the "A" side was his #2 hit Donna.

The closing scene above with "Sleepwalk" playing in the background leads to the following great cover of the song as we remember Jeff Beck, who died a year ago last month.

This Jeff Beck cover is simply one of the best covers of "Sleep Walk" I've ever heard.  Few songs are so universally and instantly successful at creating a dreamy atmosphere. It's very faithful to the original.

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The Buddy Holly Story
The Day The Music Died - Part 2

After the concert in Clear Lake, Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” J. P. Richardson were driven off to the Mason City Municipal Airport.

On February 3, 1959 past midnight, the plane crashed into a frozen field shortly after takeoff. Holly, Valens, Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson were killed instantly.

The event inspired Don McLean's famous 1972 eulogy about that tragic February "Day the Music died." I chose for this Buddy Holly feature song one of the most touching and beautiful songs ever, to include a song Holly wrote - True Love Ways.

“True Love Ways” is a love ballad that expresses devotion, commitment, and foreverness of true love. The song was written for his wife Maria Elana Holly as a wedding gift four months before the singer's death.

As you watch the movie, "The Buddy Holly Story," in anticipation of the plane crash that would abruptly end the movie, you might be thinking, how could it just end like that? But it doesn't...Everyone is on stage, Buddy shouts "See you next year," and the image freezes -- The rest is Rock and Roll history.

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Betcha Didn't Know!

"It Doesen't Matter Anymore" is one of the first Buddy Holly recordings to use string arrangements to highlight his vocals, as he did with "True Love Ways." He recorded the song on October 21, 1958, in New York City, his last recording session.

Paul Anka wrote this song specifically for Holly. Like Holly, Anka was one of the few young singers who was writing his own songs and donated his royalties from the song to Holly's wife.

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The Kenny Rogers Album Collection Series.
"We've Got Tonight"
(Release date Feb 11, 1983)

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When writing about music, especially music that was recorded before you were born, you only have the luxury of listening as an outsider. It is the Album Cover Artwork that will be a constant reminder of how good the music inside really is.

We continue this month with our Kenny Rogers collection series with the Vinyl LP, "We've Got Tonight," the fourteenth studio album by Rogers. It was released on February 11,  1983. The title cut, a duet with Sheena Easton, was the debut single and became one of Rogers' signature hits, soaring to No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart, reaching No. 6 on the Hot 100 chart.

The title of the album comes from its signature track, written by Bob Seger and originating from his album, Stranger in Town. By comparison with Rogers' version, Seger's only reached No. 13 on the Hot 100, making Rogers' version a higher-seller (at the time), five years after it was written.

The album hit No. 3 on the country chart and No. 18 on the main Billboard album chart. It attained Platinum status in both the United States and Canada. The attention to detail is what I love about collecting and owning vinyl LP records.

For music fans, the covers are the expression of a period, of a particular time in their lives. This is another like-new Framed Album Cover Art I still have in my collection today.

Released more than 40 years ago, this is another great example of our Framed Album Cover Art you can display on the walls of your hobby or retro room. The album shown is in excellent condition with both the inner sleeve and vinyl record inside showing no signs of any defect. 

I have chosen to leave the shrink wrap on the album with the sticker in the top right corner. Removing the shrink wrap and sticker would cause no damage to the album, however, collectors consider it more valuable with the sticker on the album as it appeared when purchased new. 

The inner sleeve is a clean, no ad photo of Rogers and suitable for framing. The photo is black and white and similar to the Album cover photo.

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You might also like these stories...

• The Duprees vinyl record memories return to 1962 with this great romantic cover of "You Belong to Me," a #7 hit song originally released by Jo Stafford in 1952. You will love this version...
  

• Whispering Bells is a 1957 Doo-Wop classic by the Dell-Vikings reaching #9 on the oldies music charts. Enjoy this great performance with Norman Wright Sr, his two sons, and the original member David Lerchy on this 1999 Doo-Wop 50 Special.
  

• The Angel Baby song was written by 14-year-old Rosie Hamlin and became a Top Five Doo-Wop hit back in 1960 after the song was originally played in a local department store. Read Rosie's true story here.
  

I hope you find time to visit more great stories about growing up in the 50s, 60s and 70s. You can start here.... 

What's Next?

We will continue with our Kenny Rogers Collection Series for March and will showcase the Kenny Rogers album, "Gideon." 

Our Framed Album Cover Art of The Month will feature the Waylon & Willie LP from 1978.

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