SHG: Jerry Lee Lewis: "Great Balls of Fire"

Jerry Lee Lewis: “Great Balls of Fire”
Entered the chart on: 12/2/1957
Peaked on: 1/6/1957
Weeks at #2: 4
Song at #1: “At the Hop” by Danny & the Juniors

We were in full-on Golden Age of Rock & Roll here. Just look at that Top 2! Controversial, crazy rockabilly singer/pianist Jerry Lee Lewis should need no introduction, but in case you do...



Yes, this perhaps misses a bit without the visual of Jerry standing behind the piano and banging on the keys. Think a white, hillbilly version of Little Richard and you’re close to Jerry’s appeal.

I think this might be the first song I’ve covered that is unequivocally about sex. Sure, “Blueberry Hill” is a wistful reminiscence of a past romance that was clearly consummated, but it wasn’t just about sex. Listening to Jerry’s urgent, wailing, trembling delivery makes the lyrical content clear as Canadian water. This song is about a woman that makes him horny.

We’re looking at it through a veil of nostalgia now, but compare this to the Billy Vaughn, Joni James and Four Lads tunes we’ve covered, and think of how appalled the old guard must have been to have this crazy hillbilly screaming lyrics with obvious sexual undertones. And to have their kids go crazy for it, and shove it up to the top of the charts.

They must have been delighted to tear him down after even his fan base turned on him when it was discovered he had married his underaged cousin. He’d reinvent himself as a country singer a decade later, but the damage had been done.

Rating: 5

SHG: Bill Justis: "Raunchy"

Bill Justis: “Raunchy”
Entered the chart on: 11/18/1957
Peaked on: 12/16/1957
Weeks at #2: 1 week
Song at #1: “April Love” by Pat Boone

Man, there sure were a lot more instrumentals on the charts back in the 50s. I have to wonder what changed between now and then to wipe the instrumental almost completely off the face of the pop music charts. My hypothesis is that it’s another victim of the change to music being a visual medium in the wake of MTV and the rise of music video. Unless you have a group of sexy bikini babes playing, nobody’s interested in instrumental music these days. And that’s a shame.

Here we have what I assume is another rockabilly number, considering sax player Bill Justis was the musical director for Sun Records. Also featuring Sid Manker on guitar, so Joel Whitburn informs me. I expect this to actually be raunchy, so don’t let me down guys:



Some of that rubber-band-y guitar I associate with Duane Eddy on this. I get the feeling he probably listened to this. The sax seems to be an alto, as it’s a really trebly and high-pitched melody line. Sid Manker’s guitar is the highlight of this for me, he has a nice chord-heavy guitar solo in the middle. I wonder if Robert Fripp was inspired by this for his guitar solo on King Crimson’s “A Sailor’s Tale.”

It’s all right. I’m not in love with this tune, it’s a tad repetitive, but the excellent guitar work keeps it chugging along, and there’s an unexpected piano solo about two-thirds of the way through that’s rather nice.

Oh, and I see that Billy Vaughn covered this. [covers mouth and snorts with derisive laughter]

Rating: 3

SHG: Jimmy Dorsey: "So Rare"

Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra & Chorus: “So Rare”
Entered the chart on: 4/13/1957
Peaked on: 6/24/1957
Weeks at #2: 4 weeks
Songs at #1: “Love Letters in the Sand” by Pat Boone and “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” by Elvis Presley

Checking out the pop charts of the late fifties can be a bit like catching falling stars. On the one hand we have artists like Elvis Presley, Fats Domino and the Everly Brothers, whose stars were on the rise. On the other hand, we have the likes of Joni James, Doris Day and Johnnie Ray, who were making inroads to the Top 40 for the last time, and by the turn of the decade wouldn’t trouble the pop charts again.

Here we have Jimmy Dorsey, who, along with his brother Tommy, was one of the architects of the big band sound of the 30s and 40s. And this would be his only hit in the rock & roll era. I thought, looking at that title, that this wasn’t a new song and indeed, it wasn’t: it had already been a big hit for Guy Lombardo twenty years before. It was only new to Jimmy, who was then slumming it at Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records, home to SHG alum Cathy Carr. Let’s see how he fares with it:



I’m really torn by this one. On the one hand, good God! Jimmy’s saxophone just kills it! I mean, man, that man could blow! And I mean that in the nicest way possible! Really, the horn charts overall, not just his sax lead, just absolutely slay throughout this whole thing. The whole instrumental track is arranged to perfection on this tune.

And that’s the problem with this recording. The “Orchestra & Chorus” in the credits. I get that it was the style at the time, and one had to compete with the Les Baxters and Billy Vaughns of the world but...my word, the Disney-soundtrack mixed-voice choir on this come close to murdering the song. Seriously, it’s that sucky choir that’s the only thing preventing me from awarding this the full five stars.

Couldn’t we have a remix that eliminates the choir entirely? Please? Because it’s the only thing that’s keeping me from 100% enjoyment of this song.

Rating: 4

SHG: The Everly Bros.: "Bye Bye Love"

Everly Bros.: “Bye Bye Love”
Entered the chart on: 5/27/1957
Peaked on: 6/17/1957
Weeks at #2: 4 weeks
Songs at #1: “Love Letters in the Sand” by Pat Boone and “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” by Elvis Presley



It’s like someone cloned Buddy Holly, corrected his eyesight, and had him sing close-formation harmonies with himself.

Well, can’t you imagine that being the selling point of these guys? They have a bit of Holly’s hiccuping vocal style and, hailing as they did from Tennessee, a bit of that Southern twang to their vocals.

This is one of those songs that’s so familiar to anyone and everyone it’s a little hard to imagine the impact this had to have had when it first appeared on the scene. I mean, we hear, “There goes my baby, with someone new” and our minds shoot back to the last place we heard it, most likely as background music at some tcotschke-filled diner-type restaurant with retro styling. I think it deserves a little more credit. It’s more of that rockabilly sound, the kind we’ve already heard Carl Perkins and Elvis do, but here given a bit of an Appalachian folkie twist, and all wrapped up in the Everly’s gorgeous harmony vocals.

The arrangement follows the KISS principle pretty solidly; the Everlys’ guitars are front and center, everything else is support for them. Ditto their vocals, which are obviously the centerpiece.

Well, there’s not really a lot more to say about this. We’re in the center of “classic rock & roll” era, so there’s quite a lot of these songs to choose from right now, and this made me smile when listening to it.

Sometimes, you can’t ask for any more than that.

Rating: 5

SHG: Ricky Nelson: "A Teenager's Romance"

Ricky Nelson: “A Teenager’s Romance”
Entered the chart on: 5/27/1957
Peaked on: 6/10/1957
Weeks at #2: 1 week
Song at #1: “Love Letters in the Sand” by Pat Boone

Oh dear, we’re back to the teenage exploitation records, aren’t we? Well, sort of. Ricky Nelson tried so hard for rock & roll credibility but it really eluded him until the 70s and his country-rock years with the Stone Canyon Band. Back in the 50s? Yes, he was fighting an uphill battle. In the popular consciousness, he was a radio/TV star using his parents’ Hollywood clout to kick-start a music career. Imperial Records surely just saw him as a cute, non-threatening fresh face that appealed to young girls. He could cover Fats Domino tunes until he was blue in the face, yet it would be stuff like this that the average Joe would wind up mentally associating him with for years.



OK, lyrically this is the same song as “Teen Age Crush.” The exact same. “They tell us we’re too young to know what true love is, blah blah blah.” That said, this is better on every level. I really like the male backing vocals that form the backbone of this tune, and are way up-front right at the start. Oh, that bass singer! I think I’m in love! The sax solo is another nice touch here.

And say what you will about Ricky, he did have a good singing voice. The melody doesn’t overly tax him, and you get the feeling he’d rather be singing “I’m Walkin’” (the flip side of this very single) but his voice is not without expression and pitch control. He does service to the song and proves he’s not just another pretty face.

That said, you can arrange the song as nicely as you please and it won’t cover up the fact that it’s rather lacking in substance. The lyrics, as I’ve already implied, are beyond vapid, and the song itself isn’t anything vastly special, either. I get the feeling that this is fairly typical of Ricky’s less-remembered hits these days: competently-made fluff.

I’d still rather listen to this than Pat Boone any day of the week.

Rating: 2

SHG: Marty Robbins: "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation"

Marty Robbins: “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation”
Entered the chart on: 4/27/1957
Peaked on: 6/3/1957
Weeks at #2: 1 week
Song at #1: “Love Letters in the Sand” by Pat Boone

For the record, I was singing “A white sport coat and a pink crustacean” along with this long before I knew there was a Jimmy Buffett album by that title. So there!

So the story goes, Mitch Miller, feeling a bit guilty about cheating up and coming Arizona country singer Marty Robbins out of a #1 hit by giving his debut tune—“Singing the Blues”—to white-bread Guy Mitchell to sing, lent Robbins musical director Ray Conniff and his orchestra for this one tune as a peace offering. The result was an almost-chart-topper.

My grandparents, being Grapes of Wrath people, were huge country music fans, so I heard lots of Marty Robbins while visiting them. I had somehow forgotten that this song was his, though. Is it because of the Conniff? Johnnie Ray certainly didn’t fare well against his orchestral accompaniment, but Marty was performing his own song. Time to refresh my memory of this one, so let’s see how he fares.



Marty is one of those singers that’s absolutely infuriating to someone like me who struggles with his singing. He makes hitting the high notes sound so easy. He was also blessed with a very pleasing upper register, lacking in the piercing, strident quality that makes, say, Slim Whitman so offensive to many listeners.

That’s not so much of an issue with this tune, it doesn’t show off his high range to the degree that some of his other hits do. Still, he hits all the notes very precisely without sounding “technical.” Or like “your dad singing,” as some have accused Perry Como of resembling. And he delivers the bittersweet message of the tune, a man stood up by his date, without becoming mawkish or histrionic.

This definitely sounds a lot less country than I’m used to from Robbins. This is more of a rock-inflected pop song, very in step with the times, with some pleasing but not overwhelming electric guitar. The bit half-way through, where the male backing chorus take over the melody, comes across as a bit corny, almost like the tune turns into something out of a Victorian operetta all of a sudden. I guess Conniff couldn’t resist leaving his smudgy fingerprints on this somehow.

This was Marty’s biggest hit until he stayed true to his artistic vision and made the album he always wanted to: an album of old-time cowboy and gunfighter tunes. The result was a #1, career-defining song that people still know and love to this day.

I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Rating: 4

SHG: The Diamonds: "Little Darlin'"

The Diamonds: “Little Darlin’”
Entered the chart on: 3/16/1957
Peaked on: 4/6/1957
Weeks at #2: 8 weeks
Songs at #1: “Round and Round” by Perry Como and “All Shook Up” by Elvis Presley



This song has to have been recorded as a joke. It has to be.

I mean, every aspect of this recording is just absurd. Even before the vocals begin, we’re met with clanking Latin percussion and a flamboyant harp flourish. What are we to make of this?

I thought we had left whitewashing back in ’55. I do have to say, this is a long way from the Crew-Cuts turning the Penguins’ “Earth Angel” into a cure for insomnia. It’s helpful to compare the comparatively restrained original version by the Gladiolas. Gladiolas’ lead singer Maurice Williams (also the song’s composer) does indeed impart some rather silly vocal mannerisms (“My love-a, I was wrong-a”) but compared to David Troy’s delivery on the cover, it’s no comparison.

Troy goes absolutely bonkers on this song, hooting and barking and leaping into sudden falsetto bursts. Even when listening to my parents’ copy of this record, I thought his performance was absolutely hilarious. I get the feeling he was spoofing the Platters’ lead singer Tony Williams (not to be confused with the jazz drummer), compare Stan Freberg’s parody of Williams on his version of “The Great Pretender*.”

It was almost a stroke of genius to give the spoken part in the middle to bass singer Bill Reed (it was recited by Williams on the original). It’s in keeping with the silly mood of the song and it’s just one more touch of distinction in a series of attention-grabbing moments. Appropriately, considering who had the top spot, we’re definitely in Type #1 territory in the “strategies for white-washing R&B hits.”

And...dare I say it? Not only is this version on a par with the original, it may in fact surpass it! Well, who’d have thunk it? A white-washed version that’s better than the original? Yes, it’s true, there’s a reason this has endured. You remember this one because it demands your attention. Not only does everyone sing well, but they’re enthused by their performances and put their all into it. I suppose you could compare it to Blue Swede’s “ooga-chaka” rendition of “Hooked on a Feeling” stealing the spotlight from B. J. Thomas’ serious original. I wouldn’t go there, though, as I find Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” to be an abomination.

This, on the other hand, I find enjoyable from start to finish. I make no apologies for my rating.

Besides, the Gladiolas did OK. They changed their name to Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs and wound up topping the charts a few years down the road with the classic “Stay.”

Rating: 5

*re-imagined as a skit in which Williams argues with a beatnik pianist, who objects to how boring the part he has to play is.

SHG: Tommy Sands: "Teen-Age Crush"

Tommy Sands: “Teen-Age Crush”
Entered the chart on: 2/23/1957
Peaked on: 3/16/1957
Weeks at #2: 2 weeks
Song at #1: “Young Love” by Tab Hunter

So, my current review schedule has me binging on 50s music. Artists I’ve long appreciated but forgotten about: LaVern Baker, Nat “King” Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Johnnie Ray, Kay Starr, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and so on. A recent whim dug up this oddity* from my parents’ record collection. It always creeped me out a bit; why should a bouncy, uptempo piano-shuffle instrumental have this unearthly, wordless soprano choir delivering the melody? And then that infectious rock & roll sax solo comes out of freaking nowhere! What a weird song! It’s no wonder it wasn’t a bigger hit (peaking at #38)!

By now I hear you asking, “Mike, are you stalling because you don’t want to review this edition’s song?” Maybe. Maybe because it’s sung by an actor who’s mainly remembered today for appearing opposite Annette Funicello in the Disney musical Babes in Toyland. Or for his failed marriage to Nancy Sinatra. Or because it’s called “Teen-Age Crush.” Anyway, the edition in my copy of Joel Whitburn’s Top 40 Hits has a check-mark in pencil next to it, which means I have heard this song before, but I have no memory of it. Rateyourmusic reviewer “Paddlesteamer” quotes a Youtube comment on this song: “I didn’t like this song back in ’57 and after listening to it again I still don’t.” Bodes well, doesn’t it?

Well, let’s get this over with...



[groan]

Listening to him over-sing, over-enunciate and generally make me cringe is not a pleasant experience. He just has this over-loaded kind of voice that is just off-putting to listen to. Think someone without vocal training trying to imitate Anthony Newley and you get an idea of his voice. The instrumental track is your typical rock-imitative pop song of the era, with the insistent plink-plink-plink piano and “ah-ahhh” backing vocal support**.

It’s funny, it’s like people didn’t realize that teenagers were a thing that existed until 1956 or so, and that it was an audience that could be pandered to. This is exploitation, pure and simple. As bad as I know this is, I only know it’s going to get worse as the really crass and embarrassing “youth oriented” stuff begins to surface. I see Bobby Rydell and Paul Anka in my near future and I am not looking forward to it!

I should look on the bright side. I could be reviewing this single’s B-side, “Hep Dee Hootie (Cutie Wootie).” Or Tab Hunter’s “Young Love,” for that matter. What a toxic top 2 this is!

Rating: 0

*in case the link doesn’t work, the tune is “Cha-Hua-Hua” by the Pets.
**I see that’s the Jordanaires on backing vocals, they who were heard to much better effect on many of Patsy Cline’s big hits.

SHG: Fats Domino: "Blueberry Hill"

Fats Domino: “Blueberry Hill”
Entered the chart on: 10/13/1956
Peaked on: 1/19/1957
Weeks at #2: 3 weeks
Song at #1: “Singing the Blues” by Guy Mitchell

And finally, we make it to 1957. Sorry for the delay in getting back to reviewing the #2s but I’ve been busy cooking recipes from dusty old ads and posting cartoons inspired by the Dingley Tariff. Such is life.

Fats already had a string of classic singles under his belt when he was cruelly cheated out of a #1 hit by Pat Boone and those clowns at Dot Records back in ’55. This enduring classic is as close as he’d ever have to a number one hit. And here it sits in pole position behind Guy Mitchell’s watering down of a classic Marty Robbins song. Such is life.



Allow me to say right out of the gate that I’m extremely envious of Fats Domino and performers like him. The ease with which he applies his distinctive piano style to a song WHILE singing is a real skill. Love that intro he bangs out at the start that says, “Fats is here!” I mean, it’s a pretty basic 12-bar blues, but his piano playing and thick, meaty voice make the tune.

Appropriate that this should come right after Elvis bumping and grinding his way through “Love Me.” The sexual connotation of this song, too, cannot be denied. It’s pretty obvious when he sings that he “found his thrill,” he’s talking about sex. Why else would the opening line be used as a G-rated euphemism for Richie Cunningham getting a teenage boner on 1970s family-hour TV? The 50s old guard must have been up in arms.

Fats keeps it tasteful though, even poetic. “The wind in the willow played love’s sweet melody”? You could imagine Prince scribbling down notes as he listened to this.

I really can’t deny this one’s classic status. I could listen to stuff like this all day.

Rating: 5