Bobby Vee died in 2016 from Alzheimer’s. That’s pretty surprising, considering that he’s still an 18-year old pop star and I’m still a pimply 13-year old with my ear glued to a Top 40 transistor radio.
Continue reading...Rock and Roll
076: Roy Orbison, ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’
Roy was working in his kitchen with his songwriting partner when wife Claudette came in and said she was going shopping. All three knew she had a lover in town. Orbison asked if she needed any money, and the partner cracked, “Pretty woman never needs any money.” By the time she got back, they had the song.
Continue reading...243: Ricky Nelson, “I’m Walkin'”
You can’t understand popular culture without understanding why it was worth waiting half an hour for Ricky. Thunder on the horizon.
Continue reading...237: Wilbert Harrison, ‘Kansas City’
“C’mon, Wilbert, pick up them feet, you shiftless shuffler you! The lady’s a-waiting!”
“Hey, I ain’t sweating or fretting or agitating for no woman.”
235: The Singing Nun, ‘Dominique’ (#1 Hits of 1963)
The #1 hits from 1963, all 21 of them. Our lives before The Beatles.
Continue reading...234: Carole King, ‘Up On the Roof’ (Live, 1971)
Carole King’s remarkable metamorphosis from teen mom songsmith to Earth Mother poetess.
She composed the soundtrack of our times on her piano, and wrought the template of our times with her life.
221: The Drifters (Doc Pomus), ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’
The maelstrom of emotion – Doc Pomus watches from his wheelchair as his new bride dances with another guy. All in 2’34”.
Continue reading...218: Bo Diddley, ‘Who Do You Love’
The pogroms in Częstochowa, the African-American folk magic tradition of hoodoo, and how my bootlegging booze across state lines prevented my girlfriend from being picked up by a blues legend.
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