Classic Pop Icons

Like many of the great early rockers, including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis. He had already been turned down by both the Grand Ole Opry and the Louisiana Hayride when he arrived at Sun Studios in November 1956. After an impressive audition, he began recording for the label both as a session musician and solo artist. In late 1956/early 1957, Lewis played piano on tracks such as Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox”, “Your True Love”, “You Can Do No Wrong”, and “Put Your Cat Clothes On”, and Billy Lee Riley’s “Flyin’ Saucers Rock’n'Roll.

Jerry Lee was present at a Carl Perkins’ session in December 1956 when Elvis Presley dropped by and the legendary Million Dollar Quarter jam session took place. Some now simply call this the Million Dollar sessions because, although Johnny Cash was there on the day, he does not appear to feature on the recordings.

Jerry Lee Lewis’ breakthrough year was 1957 with his monster international hits “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire”. Unfortunately, this initial success was cut short due to scandal. In May 1958, while on a British tour, it emerged that Lewis’ new wife, Myra Gale Brown, was his first cousin once removed and only 13 years old. The scandal caused the tour to be cancelled after three concerts and once back in the USA he was blacklisted from radio.

After sporadic success in the early and mid-60s, Jerry Lee Lewis made a comeback as a country artist in the late 60s. In 1968, his single “Another Place, Another Time” hit the top ten and a string of other top ten hits followed, including a number one with “To Make Love Sweeter For You”.

Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the first inductees into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. That year also saw a return to his musical roots at Sun Studios, where he recorded Class of ‘55 with Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.

In 1989, a popular biopic was released called Great Balls of Fire, which starred Dennis Quaid. Jerry Lee did a great job re-recording his old hits for the soundtrack and the movie brought him a lot of much deserved attention.

After making little chart noise for years, Jerry Lee released a new album in 2006 called Last Man Standing. This well received CD featured duets with guest stars such as Jimmy Page, Bruce Spingsteen, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Little Richard, B.B. King and Kid Rock. The Last Man Standing CD is available from Amazon.

The CD was followed up by the Last Man Standing Live DVD, which had concert footage of duets with Willie Nelson, Tom Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Chris Isaak, Norah Jones, Kid Rock and others. The Last Man Standing Live DVD is available from Amazon.

If you want to discuss Jerry Lee Lewis, head over to his section of the Classic Pop Icons forum.

For great Jerry Lee Lewis videos, check, the video section.

Happy Birthday Jerry Lee Lewis.

Today is the 60th birthday of the legendary Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey on September 23rd 1949 and and spent his childhood and high school years in Freehold Boro. Watching recent live shows, it’s hard to believe that The Boss is turning 60 as his incredible energy and passion are undiminished. Unlike many artists, Bruce remained vibrant and relevant in his 50s, with several first class albums, a hugely successful reunion with The E Street Band and some impressive side projects, including The Seeger Sessions. Anyone who has seen Bruce live can vouch for the fact that he can still cut it! UK music fans were left in no doubt of that when he recently took Glastonbury by storm with a set that lasted close to three hours and was widely regarded as the best performance of the festival.

Here’s some of my favourite Bruce Springsteen performances.

The River - 29th June 1985, Parc De La Courneuve, Paris, France

Born to Run - 2000, New York City

Dancing in the Dark - 2002, Barcelona

American Land - 2006, Dublin

To celebrate Springsteen’s birthday, I’ve added him to the American Rock video section and also added a Bruce Springsteen section to the Classic Pop Icons forum. Join up and share your thoughts on The Boss!

Keep rocking Bruce

The Ronettes are my favourite girl group of the 60s, primarily because Ronnie Spector was such a charismatic and talented performer - and of course because of Phil Spector’s brilliant studio production. Today I want to highlight two performances featuring Ronnie - one vintage and one modern.  But first, some background on the group.

The Ronettes were Veronica Bennett (aka Ronnie Spector) on lead vocals, her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They were professional singers and dancers at New York’s Peppermint Lounge when discovered by disc jockey ‘Murray the K’ (Murray Kaufman), who hired them as dancers for his Brooklyn Fox Theater rock and roll revues.

The girls picked up a record deal in 1961 with Colpix and released their first single, ‘I Want a Boy,’ as ‘Ronnie and the Relatives’. The group soon changed its name to The Ronettes and released several more singles under Colpix, but with little success.

The real break for The Ronettes occurred in 1963 when they came to the attention of Phil Spector, who Ronnie would later marry. Spector signed them to his Philles label and their first single was the classic ‘Be My Baby’, which is one of the best loved records of the 60s. A number of other hits followed, including ‘Baby, I Love You,’The Best Part of Breaking Up,’ ‘Do I Love You?’ and ‘Walking in the Rain.’

The first video I want to highlight is a vintage television performance of ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Shout.’  They sure knew how to entertain a crowd!

The Ronettes - Be My Baby

The above video shows what a great edge Ronnie Spector had to her voice, as well as fantastic stage presence. Listening to her, you can certainly see that she was an influence on Amy Winehouse and Winehouse has actually said as much.

That brings me to the second video, which features the audio of Ronnie Spector’s performance of the huge Amy Winehouse hit ‘Back to Black.’

The song was performed on December 27 2007 at the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino.

Ronnie Spector - Back to Black

*** EDIT - 8 Jan 2010 ***
It’s come to my attention that the video of Ronnie Spector singing Back to Black is no longer available on Youtube. However, you can download it as an MP3 at the following link:
Ronnie Spector - Back to Black MP3

For more of the great Ronettes, go to the video section.

To have your say on the group, head over to the Classic Pop Icons forum.

It’s Beatles Day on Classic Pop Icons today as, after a two-decade wait for fans, digitally remastered versions of all of the Beatles studio albums have been released, along with mono and stereo box sets. Each album features the original UK track listings and artwork, as well as expanded booklets with original and newly written liner notes and rare photos.

Engineers at Abbey Road Studios spent four years working on the remasters using new technology and vintage equipment in an effort to preserve ‘the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings’ and ensure ‘the highest fidelity the catalog has seen since its original release.’

For those looking to buy the one or even both of the box sets, here’s some further information:

The Beatles in Stereo set

The Beatles in Stereo set includes all 13 Beatles studio albums and the two Past Masters’ titles featuring non-album tracks. This is the first time the first four Beatles albums have been available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc.The CDs for the 13 original albums each include a Quicktime mini-documentary, featuring rare photos and footage, and previously unheard conversations from the studio.

The Rolling Stones review of the stereo set claims that the remastering efforts ‘make the original recordings sound newly invigorated and alive, whether you’re listening on standard earbuds or a high-end system.’

The Beatles in Mono set

The Beatles in Mono set includes the 10 albums from Please Please Me to The White Album in their authentic audio format: mono. The Past Masters CDs have also been recreated as mono masters.

The set also features five tracks never previously released in mono included, namely Only A Northern Song, All Together Now, Hey Bulldog and It’s All Too Much, and Across The Universe.

The first four albums have been available in mono on CD since 1987, but the remaining titles are making their CD debut in this format. Collectors are also well served by the inclusion of the original 1965 stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul - Sir George Martin had remixed these for their CD debut in 1987.

So the big question is, do you go for stereo, mono or both? Diehard fans and those with deep pockets will doubtless opt for both.

You can get The Beatles in Stereo and the The Beatles in Mono from Amazon now.

Share your thoughts on the new releases in The Beatles section of the Classic Pop Icons Forum or enjoy some classic Beatles performances in the video section.